Japan's 'invisible' disabled artisans fight for spotlight
Despite being the only country to have held the Paralympics twice, and the government's public commitment to integrate people with disabilities, workplaces are often not accessible to them.
Kishida's new policy realization panels stirring confusion in Japan
The rush to set up the panels, dealing with a range of issues, is seen as part of the prime minister's drive to produce achievements ahead of next summer's House of Councillors election.
Generation Z should fear a guaranteed income
A new paper suggests the skeptics may be right: A universal basic income may cause more harm than good for a very high cost.
COVID-19 gives America a chance to fix welfare
The COVID-19 relief effort has finally helped Americans to realize that the government can just send them cash, and that this makes their life better.
Pandemic highlights hidden poverty in wealthy Japan
Economists say that half a million workers lost their jobs in the past six months, and campaigners say the ripple effects are spreading across the population.
Tokyo remittance firm helped stranded Vietnamese amid pandemic
Yuichiro Kimoto, president of Unidos Co., sent food to Vietnamese people in need and shouldered the rent for a shelter for people from Vietnam who lost their homes in Japan.
More older single people in Japan turned away from apartment rentals
Welfare and health facilities often demand a guarantor or family member to provide security before admitting a new resident.
A Tokyo temple offers pandemic-hit Vietnamese workers a safe haven
Lured by higher wages but often burdened by debt to recruiters, Vietnamese are the fastest-growing group of foreign nationals in Japan.
In Japan, allergies and dental problems higher among kids in families getting welfare
The proportion of children with allergies or dental problems is more than 10 times higher in families on welfare than in those not receiving benefits, a recent university study showed. Stress, house dust and a lack of supervision with no one around to guide children ...
Trump may redefine poverty, cutting Americans from welfare rolls
The Trump administration may alter the way it determines the national poverty threshold, putting Americans living on the margins at risk of losing access to welfare programs. The possible move would involve changing how inflation is calculated in the "official poverty measure," the White House ...
The government plans to set up a task force with the aim of encouraging cities with populations of 200,000 or more to establish child counseling centers at a time when the number of consultations related to child abuse is increasing. The planned task force will ...
As social security, defense expenses continue to rise, Cabinet OKs record ¥101 trillion draft budget
The Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday approved a record-high ¥101.46 trillion draft budget for fiscal 2019, topping ¥100 trillion for the first time amid swelling social security and defense expenses, meaning Japan remains far from consolidating its battered fiscal health despite ...
