Photo/Illutration Yukio Edano, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, announces his party’s policy on child support in Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture, on Oct. 3. (Maho Yoshikawa)

ICHINOMIYA, Aichi Prefecture—The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan pledged to double the child care budget and extend financial support to families by three years until their children graduate from high school.

Yukio Edano, leader of the CDP, announced the policy on Oct. 3 when he visited this city. He blasted the Liberal Democratic Party-led administration’s budget for child support as “too small.”

“In advanced countries, child rearing has been shared by entire societies,” Edano said. “But in Japan, parents still must single-handedly shoulder all responsibility for raising children. Our country’s philosophy and basic approach toward child rearing are wrong.”

The “children first!” policy to bolster budgets for child support and child rearing was the eighth installment of the CDP’s campaign pledges in preparation for the Lower House election.

Under the current setup, children receive 15,000 yen ($135) a month until they are 2 years old. They get 10,000 yen a month from the age of 3 until they graduate from junior high school.

Families with a third child can receive 15,000 yen until that child completes elementary school.

But families are eligible for child support only if they fall within a certain income range.

The CDP’s proposal would abolish income limits for all families until their children finish high school.

When the Democratic Party of Japan, the CDP’s predecessor, was in power, it began providing child support with no income-related limits in 2010.

But it later revived the income cap under pressure from the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, as the two parties dominated the Upper House in a split Diet.

Edano’s announcement represented a revival of a key policy of the Democratic Party of Japan.

He also vowed to create budgets to cover maternity expenses and provide free school meals during the compulsory education period through junior high school.

In addition, the party promised to reduce junior high school classroom sizes to 35 children or fewer, as well as to make high school tuition free for all students regardless of their families’ income level.

Edano also suggested that a government organization overseeing children-related policies should be upgraded to a ministry, rather than an agency as proposed by the LDP.

Related News