Japan - Nation's caseworkers stretched to the limit

[makoto]

WELFARE SYSTEM UNDER STRAIN / Nation's caseworkers stretched to the limit

This is the third installment in a series of articles looking into factors behind the sharp rise in the number of welfare recipients.

"There was a strange odor coming from the room, so I entered and found the man dead." This was the phone call that Katsuya Kono, a 49-year-old welfare caseworker, received in August 2009 from the landlord of an apartment in Nakano Ward, Tokyo.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111118004067.htm

WELFARE SYSTEM UNDER STRAIN / Increased pressure on welfare system as many struggle on low pensions

This is the second installment in a series of articles looking into factors behind the sharp rise in the number of welfare recipients.

The light from a TV is reflected on the face of a 77-year-old woman as she lies on her bed at night in her old apartment in Adachi Ward, Tokyo, which is owned by the metropolitan government.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111117002496.htm

WELFARE SYSTEM UNDER STRAIN / Out-of-work people struggling for self-reliance

This is the first installment in a series of articles looking into factors behind the sharp rise in the number of welfare recipients.

Total spending on the welfare system by central and local governments now exceeds 3 trillion yen, placing an increasing strain on their finances.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111116003394.htm

 

[makoto]

Re: Japan - Nation's caseworkers stretched to the limit

WELFARE SYSTEM UNDER STRAIN / Poverty handed down from parents to children

This is the fourth installment in a series of articles looking into factors behind the sharp rise in the number of welfare recipients.

A 39-year-old single mother raising five children in Kanagawa Prefecture began receiving welfare in April. She later told her 17-year-old eldest daughter, a third-year high school student, quietly adding, "Don't tell your friends." Her daughter was surprised, saying casually: "What's wrong with receiving welfare? I was told at school people are entitled to it." The woman felt it was not good for her daughter to take welfare for granted.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111119001688.htm

WELFARE SYSTEM UNDER STRAIN / Uncovering fraudulent welfare payments difficult

This is the fifth installment in a series of articles looking into factors behind the sharp rise in the number of welfare recipients.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111120004321.htm

WELFARE SYSTEM UNDER STRAIN / Working-age recipients need help

This is the sixth and final installment of a series of articles looking into factors behind the sharp rise in the number of welfare recipients.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111121005985.htm