The so-called poverty line, which in Japan was set at ¥1.22
million in 2012, a figure that represents half the median household disposable
income for that particular year. In terms of “relative poverty” — defined as
lacking the minimum amount of income needed in order to maintain the average
standard of living in the society in which they live — the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development ranked Japan, with 16.1 percent of
households, fourth overall among member nations, after Mexico (18.5 percent),
Turkey (17.5 percent) and the United States (17 percent). More disturbing,
perhaps, Japan’s child poverty rate (the ratio of children under 18 living in
households earning less than half of the average income), at 16.3 percent,
exceeded the relative poverty rate for the first time since statistics began in
1985.
Roughly 8 out of 10 households receiving seikatsu hogo
(welfare payments) fall into three major categories: the elderly (45.5
percent), single mothers (7.1 percent) and the infirm and handicapped (29.3
percent). The Cabinet Office estimated in 2010 that Japan has approximately
700,000 individuals suffering from hikikomori (acute social withdrawal).
While some working people resent welfare recipients and
accuse them of abusing the system, the payouts hardly qualify as extravagant.
One recipient, a man in his 60s, was quoted in a television broadcast as
saying, “After the rent and other expenditures are covered, I’m left with about
¥1,000 per day, sufficient for three meals and maybe a used paperback book.” In
2009, Takashi Kadokura, a prolific writer on the subject of Japan’s underground
economy, published a 206-page paperback titled “Hinkon Bijinesu” (the poverty
business), which examined businesses such as realtors that specialize in
apartments that don’t require “key money” and Internet cafes where “refugees”
who cannot afford better housing spend the night. While it was recently
announced that the number of jobs has increased in Japan, factors affecting
poverty include societal problems such as crushing household debt and caring
for one's elderly parents.
Spa! a weekly magazine with a fairly good record of tracking
social trends, has begun devoting regular coverage to the topic of poverty. One
such article was “Seven deadly sins that are the cause of new-type poverty.” The
“seven deadly sins” identified were:
1) companies’ hiring of a higher percentage of non-regular
staff;
2) job changes that result in a sharp reduction in earnings;
3) the spread of “black companies” (generally defined as
businesses that fail to comply with legal labor standards, such as by demanding
unpaid overtime);
4) increased incidence of depression;
5) the burdens of
caring for one’s elderly parents;
6) crushing household debts from home mortgages and outlays
for children’s education;
7) the growing number of people who reach middle age with
virtually no prospects of marrying.
“Oya kurō suru, ko raku suru, mago kojiki suru” (“The parent
works hard, the child takes it easy and the grandchild begs”). It bears a
remarkable similarity to the saying "rags to riches to rags in three
generations".
About 124 million people, 24.8 per cent of the EU
population, are at risk of poverty and social exclusion. A Eurostat report
published last week revealed that non-EU citizens are twice as likely to be at
risk of poverty in the 28-nation bloc. 48.7 per cent of those at risk of
poverty are non-EU citizens, compared to 22.8 per cent of EU citizens. President
of the European Parliament Martin Schulz said €1 trillion were lost in tax
evasion. "Inequality threatens the foundations of our democracy.” he said.
China has identified tens of thousands of impoverished
villages with 92 million people living in poverty. That is people below China's
one USD a day formula but the numbers could scale up to 200 million if World
Bank's standard of USD 1.25 a day is employed.
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