Households receiving public assistance in September rose to 1.26 million, 1.11 times more than a year ago, the government said Tuesday, with the number relying on welfare due mainly to job losses or pay cuts totaling 169,000, an increase of 1.42 times.
Underscoring the effects of the recession, the number of households living on welfare due to job losses and pay cuts rose in all 18 major cities across the nation, data from the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry indicates.
Cities with a large manufacturing base saw the biggest increases, with a rise of 2.79 times registered in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, 2.42 times in Nagoya and 2.13 times in Kitakyushu.
The report classifies recipients of public aid into such categories as elderly households, households with ill or injured people, households with disabled people, single-parent households and other households that mainly include people who are capable of working but have lost their jobs or those who cannot earn enough income.