A survey commissioned by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has found that more than 20 percent of children in the capital come from households in severe financial hardship — where families scrape by on little income, miss utility or rent payments or lack the means to buy new clothes or go out.

The survey, conducted by professor Aya Abe of Tokyo Metropolitan University between August and September last year, covered 19,929 households in Toshima and Sumida wards and in the cities of Chofu and Hino, targeting fifth-graders in elementary school, second-graders in junior high school and teens 16 to 17 and their parents.

The survey drew mailed-in responses from 8,367 children and 8,429 parents.