The economic slump has severely hit single-mother households because many of these women work as nonregular employees, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations reported at a recent symposium.
In another indication of the hardships such households face, a survey by a nonprofit organization that supports children who have lost one or both parents showed that 9 percent of high school students who receive scholarships from the group after losing their fathers have to forgo higher education due to financial difficulties.
The federation said the average annual income of single-mother households is ¥2.13 million, or 38 percent of the national average. This means such households with an average 3.3 family members must live on ¥54,000 per member per month.