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"12-year-old Yumi lives on just 3 US dollars a day. She’s growing up with a single parent and is one of the 2.7 million children who live below Japan’s poverty line." A short video trailer for a longer report, Get Real, Channel NewsAsia, 12 Dec 2014.
Organization PR video that explains the work of 特定非営利活動法人Learning for All and what the issue is about.
A short video provide by from AP archive, talking about "子供食堂" in Japan. Click here for more information.
This is a video about university students supporting children in poverty. KSB瀬戸内海放送, 11 Dec 2015.
This is a story about family in poverty. They don't afford money to eat enough everyday. クローズアップ現代, 5 Nov, 2014.
Educational Poverty in Japan "Every citizen in Japan is guaranteed the right to an education. But interviews conducted by NHK have revealed that some young people lack access to this basic right. Some have missed elementary or junior high school, and are unable to do simple math or write hiragana -- the easiest form of Japanese writing." NHK World, 1 Sep 2018.
Japan Is No Place for Single Mothers "The divorce rate has jumped 66 percent in recent decades, but women are ill-equipped financially to raise children alone." This is quite a long article that explains clearly, with useful data: why so many single mothers in Japan work but are in poverty; why single mothers receive so little support from ex-husbands after divorce; how welfare reforms has reduced support for single mothers; and how this negatively affects their children in education. It also has the stories of two single mothers, Miwa, who was divorced, and Mari who chose to raise a child by herself without getting married. The Atlantic, 7 Sep 2017.
As Japanese poverty grows, support groups spring up to help single moms deal with harsh economy "With Japan increasingly aware of the child poverty problem in its midst, a growing number of businesses and nonprofit organizations are taking steps to help single mothers raising children alone. The help offered ranges from free consultations on legal matters like custody and alimony, to assistance searching for jobs and places to live." Japan Times, 22 Jun 2017.
Japan’s Children’s Cafeterias Offering Free or Cheap Meals Face Struggle During Pandemic Only 10% of children’s cafeterias for those in difficult family or financial circumstances are operating normally during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nippon.com, 7 Apr 2021
学力格差より深刻な、低所得層の子どもの「自尊心格差」 Data for how childhood poverty affects self-esteem. Newsweek Japan, 20 Mar 2019
Addressing Child Poverty in Japan. The Nippon Foundation－ ”子どもの貧困対策”, 日本財団 (Japanese version)
Child Poverty in Japan: A Hidden Epidemic Borgen Project, 31 Jul 2016.
Child Poverty—Problems and Initiative A presentation that gives an overview of this issue. The Nippon Foundation Kids Support Project.
Poverty among Japanese Children and Youths: Issues & Policies by Aya K. Abe, Professor, Tokyo Metropolitan University Presentation by a specialist on this issue that explains the background situation and history of poverty in Japan in general as well as focusing on children's poverty.
Japan - a wealthy nation with poor children NGOs and volunteers say increasing numbers of young Japanese are existing below the poverty line and that the government should be doing more to tackle a problem with major implications for society. DW, 22 Dec 2016.
The children of Japan's single mothers have become an underclass, Bloomberg, 26 June 2018.
Can Japan stop chain of invisible child poverty? Japan News/ANN, 28 Dec, 2019
Japan eyes 'seamless' measures to fight child poverty, yet for many struggles continue This report questions whether new measures from the government will really help children escape poverty in Japan, looks at the work of Kiitos, an organization helping children in poverty in Chofu, and tells the stories of some of the people who use the centre. Mainichi Shimbun, 8 Dec 2019.
Japan needs to address its child poverty problem Investing in children brings benefits to them and to declining population. Discusses the effects of child poverty on academic performance and the benefits to society of ending child inequality. Asian Nikkei Review, 16 Oct 2019.
Japan's rising child poverty exposes true cost of two decades of economic decline This article looks at the work of Kawaguchi child cafeteria and similar organizations that provide food support to children and families in poverty, and at the situation of her Hisako Yoshida and her three children. Guardian, 7 Jan 2019.
Child poverty in a rich country: Measuring and influencing policies in contemporary Japan by Thomas Feldhof, December 2017.
UNICEF child poverty study places Japan 32nd among 41 countries - from the Japan Times, 15th Jun 2017. Read the full report: Building the Future: Children and the Sustainable Development Goals in Rich Countries
"日本における子供の貧困の現状". 子育ての達人, 26 March 2018.
子供の貧困の原因は？「ひとり親家庭」や「格差社会」など３つの背景 - presenting several actors working with child poverty with different approaches.
Florence- Japanese organization. Read their article about "how poverty influences children" (in Japanese).
New link added 5 May 2020 International perspective: What Inequality Means for Children: Evidence from young lives A big report on different aspects of how poverty impacts children with stories from around the world. Young Lives, 2013. Downloads as a pdf file.
へき地教育の意識転換に関する調査結果/ Result of Questionnaires about Change of Consciousness of Rural Education, by Kawamae Ayumi, 2006. About the education gap and problems in local areas. It also has a lot of ideas about ways of doing research which may help students to build their own ideas (like writing problems→ write the positive side of it =hint for solution).
The Impact of Covid-19 on Education Inequality in Japan Center for Strategic and International Studies, 28 Oct 2020.
Educational Poverty in Japan "Every citizen in Japan is guaranteed the right to an education. But interviews conducted by NHK have revealed that some young people lack access to this basic right. Some have missed elementary or junior high school, and are unable to do simple math or write hiragana -- the easiest form of Japanese writing." NHK World, 1 Sep 2018.
In Japan, 1 in 6 children lives in poverty, putting education, future at stake One of the main factors hobbling the poor from getting ahead is the cost of education. Paying hefty cram school fees is a virtual necessity when it comes to passing high school entrance exams to get a shot at a decent job. Parents who cannot afford it risk condemning their children to a life of low-paid work. Japan Times, 10 Sep 2015.
子どもの貧困と教育格差, Chance for Children
Social Spotlight: School lunches and child poverty in Japan "For some children, their school lunch will be the most nutritious meal they get all day. For a few, it will be the only full meal." Mainichi Shiimbun, 24 May 2017.
全国子どもの貧困・教育支援団体協議会 すべての子どもが夢や希望を持つことができる社会の実現を目指します。
The Era of Bullying: Japan under Neoliberalism by Shoko Yoneyama. The Asia Pacific Journal Japan Focus, 1 December 2008.
学校でのいじめに影響する家庭の収入格差 How family income is related with bullying. Excite News, 24 Aug 2017
「貧困による食格差」が生む子どもの肥満やいじめ How the poverty can affect children's health, which often is related with bullying in school. Mainichi Shinbun, 28 Jan 2019.
言葉・制度・心の壁に阻まれる海外ルーツの子どもたちの現状―今知っておきたい主な課題とは by Tanaka Iki from NPO法人青少年自立援助センター. Article about children with foreign roots, and language, poverty, bullying, and discrimination issues they face in school. Yahoo News, 17 Jun 2019.
"Most single mothers in Japan exist on less than half the national median income, the poverty line defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Their children are, on average, poorer, less educated and have fewer prospects — an underclass in a wealthy and aging nation that can ill-afford to lose a significant chunk of its future workforce. One in every seven children in Japan experiences poverty. Bloomberg, 25 Jun 2018.
This video report looks at the increasing number of single-parent families in Japan, the need for government support for them, the experiences of one mother, and the views of a woman who has started a support group for single parents. Channel News Asia, 5 Jun 2018.
This report looks at the stigma (negative views) towards single mothers in Japan, the relation with domestic violence and abuse of women, and the lack of welfare support and information for single mothers. Includes the story of of a single mother and the views of an activists and supporters helping single mothers. Aljazeera, 10 Sep, 2010.
For more information about single parent families, see J1. Single parent families
Poverty and Education: How Early Interventions Can Mean a Lifetime of Change This page provides a clear explanation of the impact that poverty for pre-school children has on their academic achievement and also looks ta other factors in addition to poverty that affect a young child's educational attainment. Red Nose day, 7 Aug 2020.
Towards Children's Well-being in Europe: Explainer on Child Poverty in the EU This report which looks at child poverty in general has useful sections on: The reality of child poverty: What does growing up in poverty really mean for children and for their families?(p13); What is the impact on children, families and society? especilly 'Putting children at risk' (pp14-15); Myth 7 Education is the only way out of overty (p40) which argues that "early learning is critical to children’s cognitive development and thus to their educational attainment" but that reducing educational disadvantage is not just a question of improving access to schools or kindergartens" and requires other action. Eurochild/European Anti-poverty Network, 2013.
Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Data Country Note Japan This is along and quite complicated report but the blue box on page 1, Key characteristics of ECEC in Japan may be useful to understand funding for ECEC in Japan and percentage of children in education compared with other countries. See also the various charts in the report. OECD, 2017.
Free preschool, day care law rapped as treat for Japan's high-income earners This article reports on the introduction of free preschool and day care services in Japan in 2019 and also the criticisms that this will benefit rich and medium rich families and not provide places for poorer families or reduce waiting lists for families who don't have places. Mainichi Shimbun, 11 May 2019.
Socio-Economic Disparities in Early Childhood Education Enrollment: Japanese Population-Based Study This is an academic article that examines access to unequal "center-based childcare" (yochien?), finding that richer families have better access. The most useful sections are probably the Abstract and Introduction, the second paragraph (starting "The significant parental factors for non-use of center-based childcare include...") of the section on "Factors associated with non-use of center-based childcare" on p145 which explains results, and the first paragraph of the section on "Potential Mechanisms" on p149, which explains possible causes. Journal of Epidemology, 2019.