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Why Most Families with Single Mothers in Japan are Living in Poverty 

Single mothers in Japan
In Japan, 56% of families headed by single mothers are living below the poverty line. This is the highest of all the OECD nations, with the U.S. coming in a faraway second at 33.5%. Single mothers in Japan struggle enormously, despite living in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. This is the result of a toxic confluence of social expectations, corporate stigma and government negligence.

The Cause of Poverty Among Single Mothers in Japan

The original cause of this high level of poverty has roots in expectations about family environments. The social structure in Japan is very specific and well-established. There is an assumption, especially from the government, that every household consists of two people raising their children. In addition, it is widely expected and common for women to give up their careers and stay home to raise children. About 70% of Japanese women do just that. 

However, as the divorce rate rises in Japan, this expectation is becoming a direct driver of poverty. There is no existence of the legal concept of joint custody in Japan and women are most commonly fully responsible for their children post-divorce. Less than half of the women receive any alimony or child support payments at all.

As a growing proportion of Japanese women become the sole provider for their families, they are taking on more economic responsibility. However, their economic rights and opportunity have not increased in tandem. This is what leads directly to poverty for single mothers in Japan. Women usually are only able to secure low-paying and part-time work, if they can get a job at all. Only 43% of Japanese mothers that want to return to the workforce are able to. Even if the mothers manage to snag a job, women earn 30% less than men for the same work in Japan. 

Government Response to Divorce-Related Public Benefits

The government’s response to the issue worsened this phenomenon. As divorce rates rose and more single women applied for public benefits, the government implemented reforms to cut back on these social safety nets. In 2003, the government reduced allowances and tacked income and time limits to benefits. Even when available to mothers, twin stigmas about being poor and being divorced disincentivize struggling mothers from even accepting public benefits. Activists maintain that this stigma has led to only 200,000 of the 3.5 million eligible children receiving the financial assistance they are entitled to.  

Left with extremely limited employment options and meager government support, single mothers in Japan and their children are vulnerable to falling below the poverty line. 

Little Ones

Luckily, a nonprofit operating in the Tokyo area known as Little Ones is directly assisting single mothers and children in the everyday struggles they face. Little Ones focuses on supporting impoverished children by providing employment, housing and networking services to single parents in the country. Kunihisa Koyama, a social activist in Japan, founded the organization in 2008. The organization has since been able to house upwards of 300 single mothers. 

Little Ones has identified isolation as a key factor in mothers’ poverty and the organization hosts regular gatherings and barbecues to allow single mothers to connect and create a supportive community amongst themselves. Further, the organization supports employment by helping single mothers secure and prepare for interviews, even assisting with such small details as makeup techniques. To support mothers in housing, Little Ones assists with the housing search, ensuring that mothers can be in a place that meets their needs.

Looking Ahead

Finally, on top of all this meaningful work to reduce poverty among single mothers in Japan, Little Ones also works to raise awareness about this little-known issue. As there is not much coverage of the hardships that single mothers in Japan face, this organization is doing important work by getting the word out. It is inspiring to know that someone is working to support these mothers who face so many social and economic roadblocks. With continued work and progress on this issue, poverty in Japan will be sure to decline.

– Grace Ramsey
Photo: Flickr

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Japanese Children in Poverty

Japanese Children in PovertyThe children of Japan face a unique and difficult kind of poverty. Around 3.5 million children age six through 17 live below the poverty line in one of Asia’s wealthiest countries. Struggles arising from the 2008 financial crisis and rising inequality have put many parents in precarious situations where they struggle to feed their families. Only around 200,000 of the 3.5 million Japanese children in poverty receive necessary government assistance to help them get by. These issues have created a pressing issue in Japan that demands a greater government response and more opportunities for mothers.

Children’s Cafeterias

Japanese kids can get free or reduced-cost warm meals at children’s cafeterias. The cafeterias have become increasingly popular as childhood poverty continues to drastically increase in the country. While there were originally around 21 operating cafeterias in 2013, over 300 opened in the following four years.

Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, many of these cafeterias have been temporarily closed, leaving many children hungry. As both COVID-19 and child poverty have continued to worsen, even the Japanese Imperial Couple has been briefed on the issue, serving as a testament to its significance in modern Japanese culture. The Imperial Couple was told around 40% of programs that support providing meals to these children have been adjourned due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Traditional Family Structure Hinders Single Mothers

Many of these children’s parents are single mothers. In general, Japan is unsupportive of single mothers and offers very little additional support to this demographic. Japan’s traditional family structure usually designates a father, or man of the house, as the breadwinner. Meanwhile, mothers stay at home to care for the children. As divorce rates have risen in recent years, many mothers are forced to return to a workforce that has changed a great deal since they had been in it. Others, never having been part of the Japanese workplace, have struggled further.

Traditional Japanese societal norms typically encourage single-income houses. For instance, the Japanese tax system favors single-income houses. Many Japanese businesses will provide bonuses to men whose wives stay at home. On top of that, a significant wage gap exists, with Japanese women earning roughly 30% less than men. There is also the practice of lifetime employment, by which many Japanese men are pulled straight out of college or university and brought into a company where they are expected to work until retirement. These factors hinder the opportunities available to single mothers and limit the progress that can be made in addressing child poverty.

A Slow Response from National and Local Government

Japan’s government has made slow strides towards helping its children in poverty. In 2019, the government amended a 2013 law focused on child poverty. The amendment was made to encourage local governments, not just the national government, to develop safety nets for children living in low-income situations. Local governments have a deeper an understanding of their citizens’ needs, so they can develop more targeted solutions in tackling poverty.

The deck is stacked against Japanese children in poverty. Many have struggling mothers who are busy trying to earn a living wage in a society where women are expected to stay home. Government support for Japanese children in poverty has been lackluster. Charity cafeterias are some of the only places these kids can get stable meals. The COVID-19 crisis seems to only be aggravating the desperate situation. In such a wealthy country, children in poverty face deeply entrenched struggles and their government is barely helping them.

– Tara Suter
Photo: Pixabay

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Turning Tides for Single Mothers in Japan

Single Mothers in Japan
Despite the stigma against single parents, single mothers in Japan are moving forward with the help of the Tokyo-based organization Single Mother by Choice and the new government-provided Child-Rearing Allowance.

Single Mothers in Japan

Since World War II, Japan has grown to be one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It boasts modern buildings, clean streets and is home to some of the richest people on earth. Yet, Japan’s poverty rate has consistently risen for the past 30 years, reaching 16.3 percent in 2017. However, the country still appears to be healthy and thriving. This dissonance between facts and appearances is due to the stigma surrounding poverty in Japan. Rather than admit to being poor, many people in Japan mask their financial needs hoping not to draw attention to themselves.

This problem is even worse for single mothers in Japan, who not only face greater cultural shame more consistently, but also have a harder time providing enough for their families. A whopping 56 percent of single-parent homes in which the parent is working live in poverty. As women have children, they often can no longer work the long, rigorous hours expected of Japanese employees. This time restriction then forces them to assume lower paid jobs with worse benefits — working women in Japan make 30 percent less on average than men doing the same job.

Cultural and Societal Norms

Japanese culture also dismisses female higher education, men often feeling “uncomfortable” to share the classroom with women; girls are pushed into two-year vocational schools instead. This setup is also seen as a benefit to women as they will then, allegedly, have more time to find a husband and start rearing children in the societally accepted timeframe. Such a collective attitude makes it more difficult for women to access education to higher paying jobs, and dismisses women who might pursue relationships and children outside of marriage.

The organization Single Mother by Choice was founded in Tokyo in 2014 to empower women and fight the taboo surrounding being a single mother in Japan. The group provides a community for women who desire to lead lives outside of Japan’s norms, and supplies information on prenatal care.

Single Mother By Choice

The organization focuses specifically on women who have chosen before becoming pregnant to have a child and raise them on their own. This decision can be especially difficult as the only legal use in Japan for sperm banks are for married couples, so many women become pregnant with a partner they do not intend to marry. Members of the group desire to end the myth that children of single parents cannot be happy and that women must be lifelong wives to be mothers.

The Japanese government has also begun to implement changes to help the growing numbers of single parents. Incentive programs have been put in place to bring single-parent families into smaller towns in the country, which helps grow local communities and provides the parent with a job, car and covers moving cost.

Moreover, many cities have implemented child-rearing allowances for single parents. This welfare system supplies families in need with residual income so that they will be able to effectively care for their children. As social stigmas begins to change, single mothers in Japan will continue to fight to live in a country that respects all tracks to motherhood — married or not.

– Sarah Dean
Photo: Flickr