Households on welfare up for 3rd straight month

October 4, 2017

TOKYO- The number of households on welfare in Japan in July rose 568 from the previous month to 1,641,087, up for the third consecutive month, the welfare ministry said Wednesday.

The growth reflected an increase in the number of elderly people receiving welfare.

The number of households with only elderly members aged 65 or over and those composed of only the elderly and children under 18 came to 863,050, accounting for 52.9 percent of the total.

Of the elderly families, single-member households accounted for some 90 percent, numbering 784,110.

Other than elderly families, the number of recipient households headed by sick, injured or disabled members totaled 419,890 and that of families consisting only of mothers and children under 18 stood at 92,991.

The number of other types, including households led by jobless members, came to 256,698. Jiji Press