Welfare, Japanese Style
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The welfare system in Japan is nothing at all like it is in the United States.
In fact, it is almost nothing at all.
- Only 0.7 percent of the population is on welfare -- compared to 4.8
percent of Americans on Aid to Families with Dependent Children, 9.7 percent
on food stamps and 2.3 percent (the blind, disabled and elderly) receiving
benefits under the Supplemental Security Income program.
- Since welfare applicants in Japan must first seek help from their
families, that institution -- rather than government -- is the main safety
net.
- Jobless or not, a poor person who is physically able to work is ineligible
for assistance.
- The number of Japanese in the basic welfare program has declined dramatically
over the last half century, as people became better off and built up their
savings.
Lifestyle and social factors contribute mightily to the lower welfare rates.
- Only 1 percent of Japanese births are to unwed mothers -- compared
to 30 percent in the U.S.
- Japan has a far lower percentage of drug addicts than does the U.S.,
a much lower unemployment rate, a much more equalitarian distribution of
wealth and an abiding sense of shame that colors almost every aspect of
life.
- The work ethic is emphasized in Japan, along with the importance of
family ties.
- Caseworkers diligently check out applicants, then repeatedly check
up on them later; fraud is rare.
The country has universal medical care and comprehensive child day-care
programs, but no food stamps -- relying mainly on a single program of cash
grants to those without family, assets or the ability to work.
- Caseworkers check financial institutions to see if applicants have
savings accounts and visit homes to make sure recipients do not have luxuries
-- even air conditioners.
- Applicants who own their own homes are usually advised to sell them
and reapply when the money runs out.
- The elderly account for 44 percent of households receiving aid and
those with a sick or handicapped person in them account for another 41 percent.
Source: Nicholas D. Kristof, "Welfare as Japan Knows It: A Family
Affair," New York Times, September 10, 1996.
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