Despite having the third-largest economy in the world, there is a growing issue with poverty in Japan. Of the total population, 15.7 percent of Japanese people live in poverty, a percentage greater than countries with less economic resources.
The country’s overall child poverty rate has also hit a record high of 16.3 percent, prompting questions as to whether the country is trying to fix these issues.
When people think of Tokyo, “poor” is a thought that seldom ever comes to mind. Walking in the streets of the capital, you do not see people begging for money; the homeless are all hiding amongst the shadows.
Yet when the story of the emaciated and hypothermia-struck bodies of an elderly man, his wife and 39-year-old son were found in their home after weeks of no one noticing, one cannot help but question the state of the one in six Japanese citizens living under the poverty line.
Living in a Single-Parent Household
In 2012, The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reported that “significant poverty among single parents is a factor boosting the child poverty rate to 14 percent.” According to a Library of Congress article, there has been an increase in the number of welfare recipients, especially from single-parent households. In addition, the article states, “It is hard for single mothers to find jobs that pay enough to support a household in Japan.”
Child poverty in working, single-parent households stood at 50 percent, according to a 2014 TokyoWeekender article. The Abe administration is working on poverty alleviation methods, but not enough attention is paid to child poverty.
Due to the stagnant economy, the number of “freeters” is on a rise. “Freeters” refer to young people, who, after deciding to avoid Japanese corporate culture, live a freer lifestyle. But jumping from job to job in modern Japan is too difficult to properly survive on.
More than 1.23 million single mother households exist that earn only 40 percent of the average household income. One out of three unmarried women are considered poor, and many of these women fall into poverty due to divorce, single parenting, debts, domestic violence and family background.
The Elephant in the Room
After the Fukushima nuclear disaster of March 2011, there have been many job losses for middle-aged workers.
At the national level, Japan has gone through three prime ministers since the Fukushima disaster, who ranged from anti-nuclear to cautiously pro-nuclear. Calls for removing nuclear plants completely swarmed the country due to the fact that 20 percent of the world’s earthquakes occur in Japan; danger of a repeat is high.
Only one or two of the 54 nuclear reactors in Japan are now active; the rest are substituted by imported coal and gas, which have caused other detrimental effects on the economy.
When it comes to the question of poverty in Tokyo, many people prefer to hide the truth. On a neighborhood level, people hide that they need two jobs to afford tuition. On the political level, the government hides the true poverty statistics from its international community.
According to an article describing the effects of the Fukushima disaster, the “government was afraid to face reality and did not set the poverty line at an appropriate value.” All of this was done in the effort to endure the misfortune in private.
Poverty is a topic that is emerging from the shadows, and the Japanese government is beginning to acknowledge and address its presence.
– Ashley Riley
Sources: Behind the Grids, Japan Sociology, Tokyo Weekender, Library of Congress, The Economist
Photo: Travel CNN
U.S. to Close Emergency Shelters for Migrant Children
The U.S. government announced on August 4 that it would be closing three separate emergency shelters designed to house the rapid influx of unaccompanied migrant children arriving from Central America. The shelters, run by Health and Human Services (HHS) and located on military bases, are planning on closing due to waning numbers of children crossing the border and an increasing capacity at other, more permanent shelters.
One shelter at Fort Still in Oklahoma closed on August 8, with the other two shelters located at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas and Naval Base Ventura County-Port Hueneme, California set to close in the next two to eight weeks.
The migrant children were being held at the bases thanks to a 2008 law dictating that any unaccompanied children from countries not bordering the U.S. must be handed over to HHS within 72 hours of being apprehended. It has been estimated that around 7,700 children had been housed at the three bases, with the average stay lasting 35 days.
Most of the children are originally from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, but have come from other Central American countries. The majority of those living at the shelters have found themselves fleeing their home countries due to an increased instability in the region. This lack of safety is largely due to a combination of increased gang violence and deeply entrenched levels of extreme poverty. However, it is impossible to attribute one particular cause to the massive increase in children attempting to enter the U.S.
Unaccompanied migrant children crossing the U.S. border hit a peak during June when it was estimated that as many as 2,000 children were crossing per week, but the amount has since tapered off. The last estimate was around 500 per week in Mid-July. An estimate from the Obama administration say that a total amount of child immigrants could hit 90,000 by September.
– Andre Gobbo
Sources: New York Times, PBS, BBC
Photo: Raw Story
What is Development?
The definition of development has been controversially contested, complex, ambiguous and unstable. The most common theme among the definitions put forth is that development, as a whole, encompasses change of the human condition.
Since the 1990s, development has come to relate to policy objectives and performance indicators. Some examples include social and psychological development as well as more economic-related factors such as per capita income.
Poverty involves a wide range of concerns, all of which cannot be counted for when considering income alone. With regard to a person/family’s quality of life, countries with similar incomes may differ extensively.
Development cannot just be summed up by the prosperity of an economy, brought about by making the people of that economy more fortunate. Development carries a connotation of change that is long-lasting. Instead, development should be looked at as Nobel-prize winning economist Amartya Sen would define it: the capacity of economic, political and social systems to provide the circumstances for well-being on a sustainable, long-term basis.
According to Owen Barder, a global development specialist from the Center for Global Development, “I argue that development is an emergent property of the economic and social system, in much the same way that consciousness is an emergent property of the brain.”
Barder’s argument suggests that development is the result of human interaction within three systems: economic, political and social. If development can provide sustained improvements in all three systems, then systemically, it is a success. Otherwise, it is a failure.
As the accepted definition of development continues to change, it is important to remember that development encompasses the long-term transformation of societies in addition to those short-term desirable outcomes.
– Ashley Riley
Sources: Sage Pub, Center for Global Development
Photo: Time for People
Mobile Tech Aids Agriculture in Pakistan
If you were to spend any amount of time in Pakistan, you might think you were in the heart of a very rich country, especially when you saw how many people have mobile phones. Regardless of economic class, nearly everyone has mobile tech; individuals who work as farmers are no exception.
But the farmers live in very isolated areas that are tough to reach and, until recently, were very hard places with which to communicate. Additionally, the farmers are at risk of being struck by major natural disasters or attacked by militants in the area. Although the picture is bleak, there are some silver linings.
The first is the rapidly improved mobile technology and service in the area. USAID noticed this improvement and partnered with the local government as well as Telenor, a mobile network communicator to launch a program to benefit farmers. And now, there’s an app for that.
The pilot program will reach peach and potato farmers as well as individuals who own fisheries. The venture seeks to increase farmer’s incomes, improve market access and bolster knowledge and the ability to fight crop disease. The app will do so through various methods.
The primary function of the app will be to send alerts filled with advice and tips on how to increase efficiency and quality of food production to mobile phones. There is also a service that users can access that has voice files with similar instructions and additional tips. The latter will provide an excellent service, since a large part of the country is illiterate and would therefore be unable to access the data in any other way.
On the business side, farmers will receive data about market prices and consumer trends to ensure that they are increasing profits. There are also more technical bits of advice, such as state-of-the-art farming practices designed to increase yield and help fight crop diseases. Additionally, there are advanced weather programs on the app to help farmers decide when to plant, irrigate and harvest crops.
The pilot has been met with overwhelmingly positive feedback. Over 90 percent of participants said the alerts were “well-timed and useful,” while three quarters of the participants have adopted the farming practices recommended by the app.
The app also has a feedback section that will be incredibly useful, although it might take longer to see results. Users can log activity and practices through the app, which specialists can analyze in order to get a picture of what challenges farmers face. From there, solutions can be made. And, in a country where agriculture employs 44 percent of the population, it might be just what they needed.
– Andrew Rywak
Sources: USAID 1, USAID 2, USAID 3, Nation
Photo: USAID
The Problem with Poverty in Tokyo
Despite having the third-largest economy in the world, there is a growing issue with poverty in Japan. Of the total population, 15.7 percent of Japanese people live in poverty, a percentage greater than countries with less economic resources.
The country’s overall child poverty rate has also hit a record high of 16.3 percent, prompting questions as to whether the country is trying to fix these issues.
When people think of Tokyo, “poor” is a thought that seldom ever comes to mind. Walking in the streets of the capital, you do not see people begging for money; the homeless are all hiding amongst the shadows.
Yet when the story of the emaciated and hypothermia-struck bodies of an elderly man, his wife and 39-year-old son were found in their home after weeks of no one noticing, one cannot help but question the state of the one in six Japanese citizens living under the poverty line.
Living in a Single-Parent Household
In 2012, The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reported that “significant poverty among single parents is a factor boosting the child poverty rate to 14 percent.” According to a Library of Congress article, there has been an increase in the number of welfare recipients, especially from single-parent households. In addition, the article states, “It is hard for single mothers to find jobs that pay enough to support a household in Japan.”
Child poverty in working, single-parent households stood at 50 percent, according to a 2014 TokyoWeekender article. The Abe administration is working on poverty alleviation methods, but not enough attention is paid to child poverty.
Due to the stagnant economy, the number of “freeters” is on a rise. “Freeters” refer to young people, who, after deciding to avoid Japanese corporate culture, live a freer lifestyle. But jumping from job to job in modern Japan is too difficult to properly survive on.
More than 1.23 million single mother households exist that earn only 40 percent of the average household income. One out of three unmarried women are considered poor, and many of these women fall into poverty due to divorce, single parenting, debts, domestic violence and family background.
The Elephant in the Room
After the Fukushima nuclear disaster of March 2011, there have been many job losses for middle-aged workers.
At the national level, Japan has gone through three prime ministers since the Fukushima disaster, who ranged from anti-nuclear to cautiously pro-nuclear. Calls for removing nuclear plants completely swarmed the country due to the fact that 20 percent of the world’s earthquakes occur in Japan; danger of a repeat is high.
Only one or two of the 54 nuclear reactors in Japan are now active; the rest are substituted by imported coal and gas, which have caused other detrimental effects on the economy.
When it comes to the question of poverty in Tokyo, many people prefer to hide the truth. On a neighborhood level, people hide that they need two jobs to afford tuition. On the political level, the government hides the true poverty statistics from its international community.
According to an article describing the effects of the Fukushima disaster, the “government was afraid to face reality and did not set the poverty line at an appropriate value.” All of this was done in the effort to endure the misfortune in private.
Poverty is a topic that is emerging from the shadows, and the Japanese government is beginning to acknowledge and address its presence.
– Ashley Riley
Sources: Behind the Grids, Japan Sociology, Tokyo Weekender, Library of Congress, The Economist
Photo: Travel CNN
Basketball Brings Hope to Mexico’s Triqui Tribe
The consequences of poverty are many: some impoverished people go hungry, others become ill and others are forced to take on informal jobs that rob them of dignity or safety. Yet, a widespread effect of poverty is the loss of hope due to a lack of resources, social status and opportunities. Poverty can be difficult to escape; accordingly, those who experience it often feel it will define the rest of their lives.
Basketball programs for children of the Mexican Triqui tribe have made the news in the last year – the chance to play the sport that’s become wildly popular throughout the Oaxaca region of Mexico is giving boys and girls alike hope that they may avoid the poverty and violence that plagues much of their tribe.
Despite the fact that many families are too poor to purchase shoes for their young basketball stars, these children remain committed to honing their skills on the court and many aspire to become local coaches or international athletes. In fact, some of their dreams are already coming true; last fall, a team of Triqui boys traveled to Argentina to compete in an international basketball festival and beat more than 50 other teams (while playing barefoot) to become festival champions.
Basketball isn’t just giving these children hope, it’s giving them opportunities. Triqui basketball players have the chance to travel outside of Oaxaca and learn about options for their futures. League rules require that players maintain certain grades, so the love of the game keeps kids in school as well.
Furthermore, girls participating in basketball programs are changing the ways that women are treated in their traditional communities. Though Triqui girls are often discouraged from pursuing education and are encouraged to marry young, the opportunities that basketball provides them pave the way for gender equality. When girls can hold their own against boys on the court, people – including the girls – see them as equals.
Basketball may not be the most customary method of eliminating poverty, but it’s one that may work in the long run for the Triqui people of Mexico. In the meantime, it’s giving the community hope for the future.
-Elise L. Riley
Sources: The Guardian, CNN
Photo: The Guardian
Get Out and Play: Sports and Child Development
Playing is fun! The importance of play goes beyond simply passing time or seeking health benefits. A study completed by scientist Jaak Panksepp supports the pre-existing hypothesis that play is critical to child development.
Panksepp, along with others in the scientific community, theorizes that humans, as social animals, need play to learn social rules and cues. Through sports, people form communication skills, learn cooperation and leadership and come to better understand others.
To test this idea, Panksepp experimented with rats. He isolated one group so they could not play, while allowing another group to play. When both groups were placed in the same cage, the rats that received more stimulation were better able to interact and mate than the rats that were not allowed to play.
A comparable study done on kittens by a different group of scientists observed similar results. The young cats that were unable to play failed to acquire certain social skills. And although the kittens that were deprived of play could still hunt well, they were more aggressive and had trouble fitting in socially with other cats.
Lack of play, especially at a young age, proves to be a serious problem. Panksepp concluded that, with play, both humans and animals learn to live in social groups, build relationships, express emotions and master skills that do not come instinctively.
The importance of play for child development cannot be understated, according to Panksepp and many others concerned with the health and well being of young people.
The U.N. and UNICEF hold play as a fundamental right for every child, and protect that right under Article 31 of the Convention of Right of the Child. Sport and recreation are essential components of a child’s education, allowing children to gain confidence and lead healthier, more balanced lives.
Unfortunately, children living in poverty and areas of conflict are the most deprived of play.
Children are denied their rights when they are forced to work at a young age. In an effort to support their families, poor children drop out of school and work long and hard jobs. Across the world, there are over 168 million child laborers. Laboring like adults prevents them from playing and gaining the important life skills that come with play.
War and violence also keep children from play. Those in conflict zones live in constant fear and cannot run and have fun outside. With current conflicts raging in Gaza, Iraq and Syria, to name a few, the impact of war on children’s lives today is extensive and pervasive.
Without play, children living in poverty and conflict are denied essential interactions. Childhood is a critical period to set the foundations for healthy development, and play acts as an important component to this growth. The study completed by Panksepp suggests that the conditions experienced by children in poverty and conflict can have long-term negative consequences on their development.
– Kathleen Egan
Sources: NPR, UNICEF, International Labor Organization
Photo: UNICEF
Hospital and Rehabilitation for Disabled Children
The Hospital and Rehabilitation Center for Disabled Children, the only children’s orthopedic hospital in Nepal, is working toward treating Nepalese children and performing affordable surgeries that would otherwise go undone.
In Nepal, about 83 percent of the population lives below the $2 a day poverty line. Once a child gets sick, it is unlikely that its family can make it to a treatment center or hospital, and less likely that the family could pay for for the treatment without crippling its savings. The HCDR was created to change that.
The HCDR was erected in 1997, but the team has been working with children’s surgeries since 1985 in remote villages and smaller buildings. The organization’s founder and current leader is Dr. Ashok Kumar Banskota, a Nepalese doctor who was educated in India and the United States.
Once he returned to Nepal after his studies, Dr. Banskota wanted to make healthcare accessible to all who need it in his home country rather than to just the rich or those in the most accessible regions.
The HCDR is a tertiary level pediatric hospital that performs about 1,500 surgeries each year, and provides physical therapy and prosthetics when needed. In order to reach as many patients as possible for aftercare, HCDR has community-based rehabilitation services that follow up with patients in their villages and show families how to properly care for their children after surgery.
The team has worked hard to make its care accessible to all, with the average cost of surgery at only $151. It has also incorporated home visits to make post-surgery adjustments easier on the patients as well.
HRDC works on continually training new doctors to keep its hospital well staffed. They get trained in Primary Rehabilitation Therapy in order to continue recovery for patients. There are also periodic courses offered to keep everyone up to date.
A study done to test the impact of HRDC on the patients it has treated previously showed positive results. The study showed over 90 percent of the children reported positive impact from HRDC treatment on further growth and development, both physically and socially.
– Courtney Prentice
Sources: Global Giving, Himalayan Foundation, Google, HRDC Nepal
Photo: Talk Vietnam
Improving Nutrition Improves the Economy
The long-term benefits of improving nutrition around the world are more than just a humanitarian accomplishment. Improving the human condition is undoubtedly vital; economists, investors, governments and researchers all over the world are taking a look at nutrition from another angle with a focus on how minimizing poor nutrition works to maximize the growth potential of the global economy.
Research supports the fact that improving nutrition is a fundamental stepping stone for the world to reach global health and development goals.
Adrianna Localbo, Campaign Director of the 1,000 days campaign, explained the urgency of looking at nutrition with a comprehensive perspective. The 1,000 days campaign outlines the need for proper nutrition during the first 1,000 days of a child’s life.
In an interview with Devex Impact, Localbo emphasized that the proper nourishment in that critical time period is necessary for achieving substantial rises in the way of education and economic productivity in developing countries.
Localbo stated that when a child is well-nourished in those critical early stages, they are more likely to go farther in school, have a higher IQ, and possess a greater earning potential.
Good nutrition is critical to boost a child’s immune systems to prevent the devastating effects of diseases like malaria and tuberculosis. A well-nursed child is 13 percent more likely to be in the correct grade of school. On a larger scale, proper nutrition can help a country’s GEP improve by up to 11 percent.
Recently the private sector has become increasingly involved in supporting the fight for improved nutrition. Localbo stated that ninety businesses worldwide have made financial pledges to help reduce poor nutrition.
She noted that the private sector recognizes that the support is an investment to push for the creation of a sustainable, resilient population. The population is, after all, what makes not only the workforce but also the base of consumers.
At the hunger summit in 1996, countries pledged to work to halve hunger by 2015. Heads of states came to an agreement that the cost of hunger greatly hurts the economic growth of countries.
Investing in nutrition is an investment in human and social capital. According to researchers, it is the future of economies.
– Caroline Logan
Sources: FAO, Devex
Photo: Quest Garden
JADEtribe: Fashion With a Conscience
In the fall of 2008, Kimberly Hartman decided to temporarily leave behind a 16-year-long career in fashion in pursuit of an opportunity to pause, reflect and gain some perspective: an extended solo trip to India and South East Asia. What she discovered on her journey inspired JADEtribe, the iconic handbag collection that has altered not only Hartman’s career path, but also her global impact.
The fashion and design guru landed in Laos, a far cry from the cosmopolitan cities she’d been theretofore residing in. Laos, one of the poorest countries in East Asia—and one of the few countries that remains communist—has made significant gains with poverty alleviation within the past two decades, bringing the poverty rates from 39 percent down to 26 percent with the help of foreign aid. The country is heavily mountainous and landlocked, and though less than 5 percent of the land is suitable for agricultural production, the economy remains agrarian.
While exploring a weaving market in a remote village in Laos, Hartman found what she was looking for: inspiration. She became at once enamored by the colors created with natural, organic dyes, and by the awe-inspiring textiles that were woven from them. Fabrics and prints that were unlike any others she had seen before caught Hartman’s well-trained eye. Here, in Laos, where women work more than men—taking on an average of 70 percent of the farming and household duties—and receive less education were beautiful creations that essentially went unnoticed. Hartman was inspired.
She has since employed the weaving village to create exclusive colors and patterns that laid the groundwork for her entirely unique collection of JADEtribe handbags.
And it was more than just a brave career move for Hartman, who had established a name for herself in New York City managing some of the industry’s top brands. It was the perfect marriage of two things about which Hartman has always been deeply passionate: fashion and humanitarianism.
Through the creation of JADEtribe, Hartman has discovered a way to launch a brand that directly gives back to the people of a country in which 41 percent of the population is malnourished. By commissioning villagers, leather artisans and female sewers to create her handbags—and paying a fair price—Hartman has created immense opportunity for growth in jobs and an increased quality of life for a population of a least-developed country.
One hundred percent natural and ethical, JADEtribe bags truly represent fashion with a conscience. Seen on celebrities and in boutiques and trade shows across the globe, JADEtribe is a shining example of how one person’s passion and desire to make a difference truly can transform lives. Hartman’s JADEtribe bags are available on her website, www.jadetribe.com.
– Elizabeth Nutt
Sources: UNDP, JADEtribe, World Vision, UN, The Borgen Project
Photo: BoutiqueBlu
HumanTrafficking in Thailand Raise Suspicion
In a strange case, nine surrogate babies were found in “suspicious circumstances” in a Bangkok condo, raising suspicion over possible human trafficking in Thailand. While there were no birth certificates for the children, they were all under good health and had a personal nanny when they were found. Nevertheless, the suspicious story has only gained traction as the ministry continues to investigate the case.
The father, an alleged “Japanese businessman” who wishes to remain nameless, is under primary investigation for possible plans to traffick the babies, as well as to determine if the surrogacy of the babies — who, lawyers claim, all have the same mother — was illegal. Nevertheless, the man’s lawyer remains adamant that he loves his children and even bought properties, bonds and insurance under their names.
This most recent report comes just days after allegations were made that an Australian couple abandoned their Down syndrome surrogate baby while taking home his perfectly healthy twin sister. Thailand, which has been under recent attack as the “go-to” place for commercial (illegal) surrogacy due to strict laws being enacted in neighboring countries, may now hold a new law prohibiting the act in lieu of recent events.
Prohibiting commercial surrogacy, the law would provide punishment for violators, including up to 10 years in prison and fines for up to 200,000 baht (roughly $6,200.) While many countries have already tightened their laws regarding surrogacy, most often with an implanted embryo from unbiological parents, other countries such as Thailand, Ukraine and India have become almost tourist destinations for parents looking for low-cost surrogate mothers.
While Thailand is a growing country, more than 13 percent of its population is still living below the poverty line. Due to lack of strict legislation, human trafficking is a growing problem in the country. And while the unemployment rate is still less than 2 percent of the population, the percentage of those living in poverty — and being forced into human trafficking — is only continuing to increase.
The nannies and surrogate mother found with the nine babies have all been questioned, and the babies have been taken to a state-run nursing home in Nonthaburi’s Pak Kret district. Under the Child Protection Act, the babies will be taken care of by the ministry until their families or guardians have been found. As the investigation continues, possibilities of human trafficking and commercial surrogacy could result in legal action toward any guilty parties.
– Nick Magnanti
Sources: World Vision, World Bank, The Star, UCA News, Japan Times
Photo: Radionz