The Diet enacted March 26 a bill to provide a child allowance of ¥13,000 per month per child in fiscal 2010. The new measure is an important addition to government efforts to support families raising children.
The allowance will apply until a child graduates from middle school. In fiscal 2010, a total of ¥2.255 trillion will be paid to parents of 17.35 million children, some 5 million more than are presently covered by a similar but limited allowance. In principle, parents will apply to municipal offices to receive the allowance. The payments will be made three times a year, with the first scheduled for June.
Equity must be ensured with regard to social welfare and tax matters, but the Hatoyama administration should ignore calls to reduce the allowance for "high-income" families. In practical terms, this would place an overwhelming burden on municipal offices, which would have to assess each household's income. The administration should pursue the idea of combining the child allowance with an adequately progressive income tax. It should consistently reinforce the philosophy behind the allowance: It is based on the view that society as a whole is responsibile for child rearing and hence for giving adequate support to all child-rearing families, irrespective of income levels.