The government's decision to lower the standard amount of welfare benefits three times between 2013 and 2015 resulted in welfare benefit reductions totaling about ¥300 billion ($2.1 billion) over about five years through 2018, an estimate showed Sunday.
Amid lawsuits in which welfare recipients around the country sought to have benefit cuts revoked, the Supreme Court is set to deliver a ruling on June 27 for an Osaka High Court case and another from the Nagoya High Court, where the rulings were divided.
If the plaintiffs win, the state may be required to pay the amount that would have been provided before the reductions.
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