主旨

English will follow.
児童扶養手当(じどうふようてあて)とは、ひとり親家庭などの児童のために、国から支給される手当です。

この児童扶養手当は、ひとり親たちにとって命綱です。というのも、ひとり親家庭の多くは母子家庭(母子家庭123.8万世帯 父子家庭22.3万世帯)ですが、すさまじい貧困に苦しんでいるためです。

名称未設定 2 のコピー
日本の母子家庭の就労率は約81%で世界でもトップクラスですが、正職員の率は39%しかなく、パート、アルバイト等非正規雇用が47%です。パートの仕事を2つも3つも掛け持ちをしても収入は少なく、平均年間就労収入は181万円しかありません。父子家庭も子育てのために残業や休日出勤が難しいため、やむを得ず非正規や派遣になるなど生活が安定しづらい状況です。その結果、日本のひとり親家庭の子どもの貧困率は54.6%と、先進国で最悪です。

このように苦しいひとり親家庭の生活を安定させるために児童扶養手当があります。児童扶養手当は、扶養している1人目の子どもには、所得の制限はありますが、最高月額42,000円が出ます。しかし、2人目には、どんなに所得が少なくても月額5000円、さらに3人目以降は、月額3,000円しか出ません。

月5000円、3000円では、子ども1人の1ヶ月の食費にすら到底足りません。例えば3人目以降は、1日約100円にしかなりません。中学や高校生の食べ盛りの子どもに、1日100円で何を食べさせればいいのでしょう?

名称未設定 1

 

そしてひとり親の貧困は、子どもの教育機会を奪い、子どももまた貧困となっていく負の連鎖を生み出します。

こうした状況を打開するために、現在2人目月額5000円、3人目以降3,000円の児童扶養手当の加算額を、せめて1万円に増額していただくことを、政府に要望したいと思います。

子どもの貧困対策大綱にある「全ての子供たちが夢と希望を持って成長していける社会」を実現する第一歩として、みなさん、どうか力を貸して下さい!

We’ve been engaged in a petition drive to demand an increase, by ¥10,000, in the Child Support Allowance—known as “Jido fuyo teate”–for the second and subsequent children. The collected signatures will be handed to the Chief Cabinet Secretory, Mr. Yoshihide Suga.

Japan is the third largest economic power. However, due to an unstable economy, poverty has been spreading and many children are affected. Now, one in six Japanese children are in poverty. Single-parent families are in an especially severe situation, with 54.6 percent of them in poverty. This rate is the worst among developed nations.

Reading this, you might wonder if Japanese single parents are less likely to work. In fact, 80 percent of single parents are single mothers and, of them, 81 percent are employed. This is the highest rate of employment for single mothers in the world. But, because there are an insufficient number of day care centers to care for their children, and the centers that are available are expensive and have limited operating hours, many mothers who have small children cannot work enough to make ends meet. Nearly half of single mothers work part time or in irregular employment and their average annual income is just $14,986. Single mothers who are in this sort of situation often have two or more part-time jobs to earn enough money to live and their lives are so busy they may not have enough time to take care of their children. Another problem they face is the difficulty of ever getting full-time regular employment after years of working in irregular employment or as part time workers. So, even after their children grow up, and they have more time to work, they may not be able to change their career easily and escape from poverty.

How about the situation for single fathers? The percentage of single fathers who have regular employment is higher than for single mothers and their average income is also superior. However, fathers who do not have support from their family or friends cannot do overtime work and they may choose to do poorly paid irregular work in order to spend time with their children.

To support single parent families in poverty, the Japanese government provides the Child Support Allowance. For the first child, about $342 per month is provided, but for the second child, the allowance decreases to about $41, and for the third and subsequent children only about $25 is offered. To make matters worse, not every single parent can get this amount. The allowance depends on their annual income and only people who earn less than about $10,803 annually can receive the full allocation (If one’s annual income is about $16,620, the allowance for the first child drops to about $249, and when one’s annual income reaches $30,331, the allowance falls to $82.). This cannot be considered sufficient support for living in Japan, where everything is expensive. [US dollar amounts calculated at ¥120 to US$1]

The poverty of parents affects the education and future of children. Some children living in these circumstances not only cannot enter university but high school as well. We strongly believe that the future of children should not be limited because of the poverty of their parents. To help children in these kinds of financially difficult situations have a more stable life, and to allow parents to spend more time with their children, we strongly encourage the government to increase the Child Support Allowance. For that reason, we are conducting this petition drive. Your support and cooperation are highly appreciated. Thank you.