Japan Welfare Applications Rise for 3rd Straight Year in 2022

Tokyo, March 1 (Jiji Press)--Public welfare benefit applications in Japan increased around 0.8 pct from the previous year to 236,935 in 2022, up for the third consecutive year, a preliminary government survey report showed Wednesday.

"We will closely monitor the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and price hikes," an official of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said.

In December alone, the number of applications was down 0.3 pct from a year before to 17,706, decreasing for the first time since April 2022.

The number of households on welfare rose 0.1 pct to 1,646,686 in the month.

Excluding households for which welfare payments are suspended, recipient households with only elderly members aged 65 or older and those with such elderly people and children under 18 accounted for 55.3 pct of all households on public aid.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]