The Justice Ministry compiled a draft ordinance setting the amount of legally mandated post-divorce child support at ¥20,000 ($136) per child per month, informed sources said Thursday.

The move is based on a Civil Code revision to take effect by next May that establishes a new system in which a child-rearing parent will be authorized to seek payments from the other parent after their divorce even if there is no prior agreement on the matter. The mechanism is aimed at making sure that the child support is paid without fail.

Paying child support after divorce is an obligation under the Civil Code, and concrete amounts are determined on a case-by-case basis using parents' incomes and other factors.

According to a 2021 welfare ministry survey, only 28.1% of single-mother households and 8.7% of single-father households had actually received child support from the other parent. The issue of nonpayments is believed to be a factor behind financial difficulties at single-parent households.

The statutory support of ¥20,000 per child per month in the draft Justice Ministry ordinance was calculated based on "the standard amount of cost of maintaining the minimum standard of living for a child."

Together with the planned introduction of a joint child custody system for both parents after divorce, the new child support rule aims to ensure shared responsibility for child-rearing.

The government will also create a system allowing the seizure of assets of parents who fail to pay child support. Those failing to receive child support will be given priority over other creditors in collecting claims, with a limit of ¥80,000 per child per month.

The Justice Ministry will hammer out the details of the new child support rules after collecting public comments from next month. It plans to review the scheme as necessary after it is implemented.