Jun 08 (Japan Times) - The number of households on welfare in Japan in March increased by 2,588 from the previous month to hit a record high of 1,641,523, up for the first time in three months, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said Wednesday.
The increase reflected a rise of people who lost their jobs at the end of the fiscal year in March. The data excluded households on welfare whose payments were being suspended.
Households with only elderly members aged 65 or over and those made up of only the elderly and children under 18 numbered 855,586, or 52.4 percent of the total recipient households.
Of the elderly families, single-member households accounted for 90 percent, totaling 776,415.
