The number of households living on welfare hit a record high 1,634,185 in December, the government said Wednesday.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry attributed the figure, up 1,965 from the previous month, to an increase in households consisting of elderly people living alone with no outside income coming in.
The number of welfare-dependent households consisting of persons aged 65 or older reached 805,723, up by 1,877 from the previous month and accounting for 49.6 percent of the total. Of those, more than 90 percent consisted of a single individual, according to data released by the ministry.