Japan's welfare recipients had exceeded two million for the first time in almost 60 years, data from the Health Ministry showed. A poor economic rebound and the country's ageing population were blamed for the high percentage of people on welfare, the Ministry of Health said.
The weak public coffers of the government agency have also compounded its ability to offer more in need. People in welfare are now numbering 2.022 million. The Ministry said this is still low compared to the people given welfare back in 1951 numbering 2.047 million 2.043 million in 1952. The ministry said the number still do not include the number of potential welfare recipients who were victims of the March 11 earthquake.
The number will likely grow further as victims of a massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, many of whom had lost jobs and houses, move out of shelters and face expenses such as rent and buying food, a ministry official told Reuters in a related report. About 2.022 million people were dependent on welfare in March, behind Japan's public debt is already twice the size of its US$5 trillion (S$6.2 trillion) economy and rating agencies are threatening to downgrade it due to the cost of reconstruction after the 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami, which triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years. The figures for 1951 and 1952 were the average of welfare recipients for each month of the respective years. Specific monthly figures were not immediately available for those years, the ministry said.
Source: OfficialWire
