生活保護改革 自立促す就労支援に本腰を

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Oct. 5, 2012)
Govt must do more to help welfare recipients find jobs
生活保護改革　自立促す就労支援に本腰を（10月4日付・読売社説）

The number of people receiving welfare benefits in Japan has reached a new record of 2.11 million, and they are expected to receive a total of 3.7 trillion yen this fiscal year.
　生活保護の受給者は、２１１万人と過去最多を更新し、今年度の給付額は３兆７０００億円にのぼると見込まれる。

The government must knuckle down to help people who need financial help become self-reliant.
政府は、生活困窮者の自立支援に本腰を入れるべきだ。

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has drafted a set of measures to help people who need financial help. The measures--the first of their kind--focus on job assistance. The ministry plans to compile a livelihood support strategy by the end of this year and submit related bills during an ordinary Diet session next year.
　厚生労働省は、就労支援に力点を置いた初の生活困窮者政策案をまとめた。年内に「生活支援戦略」として策定し、来年の通常国会で関連法案を提出する方針だ。

About 300,000 welfare recipients are working-age people who have no jobs despite being capable of working. The proportion of such recipients has more than doubled over the past decade.
　生活保護受給者の中には、働けるにもかかわらず、職のない現役世代が約３０万人いる。受給者に占める割合は、過去１０年で２倍以上に増えた。

This is apparently the result of the nation's prolonged economic malaise. An increase in the number of nonregular employees who have no employment insurance has become a major contributing factor to this trend.
　背景には、景気低迷の長期化がうかがえる。雇用保険に未加入の非正規雇用者が増えたことの影響が大きいと言えよう。

According to the draft, the ministry would provide welfare recipients with opportunities to try light work in collaboration with local governments, companies and other organizations. This aims to help them restore their life rhythm, thus encouraging them to secure stable jobs.
　厚労省案では、自治体や企業などと連携して、軽作業の労働体験の場を提供する。生活リズムを取り戻させて、安定的な就労につなげる狙いがある。

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Rent assistance needed

The draft also proposes a scheme under which a portion of income a welfare recipient earns from work would be accumulated and given in a lump sum when they get off welfare.
　生活保護受給中に就労で得た収入の一部を積み立て、保護から脱した時にまとめて受け取る制度も提案した。

It calls for establishing such a framework because welfare recipients have their benefits reduced if they have an income.
現在は、収入があると保護費が削られるからだ。

We believe it is crucial to introduce measures like this one that motivate welfare recipients to join the workforce.
　こうした勤労意欲を促進する仕組みの導入は欠かせない。

It also is important to help them find places to live. The draft calls for providing in-kind benefits by having local governments pay their rent to landlords.
　住居の確保も重要な支援である。家賃は、自治体が直接払う現物給付とする方向だ。

This would encourage landlords to rent rooms to welfare recipients because they would no longer have to worry about nonpayment of rent.
家賃滞納の恐れがなくなり、大家が安心して貸すことが期待できよう。

While encouraging welfare recipients to help themselves, it is also important to prevent low-income earners from reaching the point where they require welfare benefits.
　受給者の自立を促す一方で、低所得者が生活保護受給に至らないよう支援することが大切だ。

There have been reports that 25 percent of welfare recipients had parents who also received benefits. They must be helped to break the chain of poverty being passed from parents to children.
　生活保護受給者の２５％は、その親も受給していたとの報告がある。親から子への「貧困の連鎖」を断ち切らねばならない。

Many of these recipients graduated only from middle school or dropped out of high school.
This clearly shows that people from families receiving welfare benefits often have fewer education opportunities than people from households not on welfare.
　中卒、高校中退の人も多く、一般家庭との教育格差は否めない。

The nation's small public expenditure on education has been blamed as a major factor for this trend.
教育への公的支出が少ないことが一つの要因とも指摘される。

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Families also have responsibility

The ministry draft calls for providing learning support to children from households receiving welfare benefits, such as collaborating with the private sector to offer remedial classes to meet the needs of their families and local communities.
　厚労省案によると、民間との連携で、家庭や地域の事情に応じて補習塾を開くなど、子どもたちの学習を支援する。

It is natural that relatives should be asked to explain why they do not support a family member facing financial difficulties even though they have a duty to do so. Even the mother of a popular comedian was recently found to have received welfare benefits.
　お笑いタレントの母親が生活保護を受けていた問題もあり、扶養義務のある親族が扶養を断った際には、その理由の説明を求めることにしたのは当然だ。

Of course, it is also necessary to ensure people do not illegally receive welfare benefits.
　無論、生活保護費の不正受給対策も徹底する必要がある。

Nevertheless, the elderly are the fastest growing group among welfare recipients due to the rapid graying of society and an increasing number of senior citizens who receive low pensions.
　ただ、受給者のうち、最も増えているのは高齢者だ。急速な高齢化と、低年金者の増加による。

People who receive only basic pension payments have to get by on just 49,000 yen per month on average.
基礎年金だけの受給者は、平均額が月４万９０００円に過ぎない。

Reforming the welfare system should be conducted comprehensively along with overhauls in other fields, including employment, education and pensions.
　生活保護制度の改革は雇用、教育、年金などの分野も合わせて包括的に進めなければならない。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Oct. 4, 2012)
（2012年10月4日01時39分 読売新聞）