The health and welfare ministry announced on Nov. 9 that the number of people on welfare receiving livelihood assistance known as seikatsu hogo (literally livelihood protection) reached 2,050,495 nationwide as of July 2011, topping the monthly average record of 2,046,646 marked in fiscal 1951, when Japan was in the midst of postwar social and economic confusion. Behind this is an increase in the number of elderly people and prolonging economic stagnation.
Especially worrisome is the fact that the number of working-age people who cannot find jobs and have to rely on livelihood assistance is rapidly increasing. The effects of the 3/11 disasters and the eurozone crisis may worsen the situation. There is no quick fix. It is important for both the central and local governments to take effective measures to stimulate the economy and to help unemployed people find jobs.
The number of welfare recipients started falling in the mid-1980s amid an economic bubble. But it started rising after hitting a bottom in fiscal 1995 when the monthly average of recipients was about 880,000. It started soaring after the Lehman Brothers shock in the fall of 2008 and topped 2 million in March 2011.