Japanese Households of Children Who Have Lost a Parent Struggle Financially

Ashinaga Foundation, a Tokyo-based scholarship nonprofit organization that supports children who have lost a parent, has released the results of its survey of households that include a high-school student who has received a scholarship from the organization. The survey, carried out in October 2024, targeted 3,536 guardians of scholarship recipients, and was available in both online and mail-in formats. A total of 2,334 responses were received, for a response rate of 66%. Among the respondents, 82.0% were mothers, 10.7% were fathers, and 5.3% were grandparents.

Average disposable income among those surveyed stood at ¥1,878,000, which is just 46.3% of the national average of ¥4,058,000 reported in a 2023 survey by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare. The average reported in the survey was also below the national average for single-mother households, which stood at ¥2,514,000.

Although around 70% of the respondents reported that they were employed, only 25.8% of them were in regular full-time positions, while more than 60% were in nonregular positions such as holding a temporary or part-time job.

The term “disposable income” referred to in the survey results concerns the amount of money that a household can use freely after social-insurance premiums and taxes on annual income are deducted. Also included in the disposable income of households receiving a scholarship are public assistance, such as pensions, child allowances, and welfare benefits. According to the Ashinaga Foundation, even when such public assistance is included, the disposable income of the households surveyed remains low, due to such factors as having only a single income, having an income that comes only from nonregular employment, and having illnesses or disability that prevent employment.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)