AFP, Tokyo :
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was set to announce a fund to help alleviate child poverty Thursday, in a country where one in six children is classed as poor.
The move follows a law passed by parliament last year aimed at tackling an issue that critics say has long been swept under the carpet in the world’s third-largest economy.
“The fact that the government recognises child poverty as a national issue is a big step,” Aya Abe, a professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University who has been researching child poverty in Japan, told AFP.
“But the government should also make a financial commitment or set a goal of how much they want to reduce the poverty rate.”
In 2012, a record high 16.3 percent of children aged 17 or under were living in poverty-defined as surviving on funds half that of the average disposable income.
That compares with 9.8 percent in Britain and 21.2 percent in the United States, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a grouping of rich countries.
The poverty rate jumped to 54.6 percent for single-parent households in Japan, the worst in the OECD.
As part of the government’s efforts, Abe will meet business leaders and support groups on Thursday evening to hammer out a strategy, including setting up a private fund to bolster welfare payments criticised by campaigners as too small.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was set to announce a fund to help alleviate child poverty Thursday, in a country where one in six children is classed as poor.
The move follows a law passed by parliament last year aimed at tackling an issue that critics say has long been swept under the carpet in the world’s third-largest economy.
“The fact that the government recognises child poverty as a national issue is a big step,” Aya Abe, a professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University who has been researching child poverty in Japan, told AFP.
“But the government should also make a financial commitment or set a goal of how much they want to reduce the poverty rate.”
In 2012, a record high 16.3 percent of children aged 17 or under were living in poverty-defined as surviving on funds half that of the average disposable income.
That compares with 9.8 percent in Britain and 21.2 percent in the United States, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a grouping of rich countries.
The poverty rate jumped to 54.6 percent for single-parent households in Japan, the worst in the OECD.
As part of the government’s efforts, Abe will meet business leaders and support groups on Thursday evening to hammer out a strategy, including setting up a private fund to bolster welfare payments criticised by campaigners as too small.
