The nation's child poverty rate improved slightly in 2015, thanks in part to a more robust job market, but 1 in 7 children remain poor, a survey by the welfare ministry showed Tuesday.
The national livelihood survey showed 13.9 percent of children under 18 were in households living on less than half the national median household disposal income, down 2.4 percentage points from the previous survey in 2012, when the rate was the worst on record, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said.
A ministry official attributed the first improvement in 12 years to an improved job market pushing up incomes.