The Hiroshima District Court on Thursday turned down a lawsuit filed by welfare recipients who sought to restart an extra welfare payment for the elderly and for fatherless families because, they argued, it is their constitutional right to maintain minimum standards of cultured living.
This represented the first court ruling on a cut in extra welfare payments for fatherless families. It also marked the second court decision on the elderly, following a June Tokyo District Court ruling that also rejected demands by welfare recipients. That case is now before the Tokyo High Court.
Similar suits are also pending at eight other district courts, in Sapporo, Kushiro, Aomori, Akita, Niigata, Kyoto, Kobe and Fukuoka.