生活保護扶養照会見直し～Inquiries prevent people from asking for help

Regarding the application process for public assistance programs in Japan, local governments had to ask the applicant’s parent, siblings and children who are basically 20 years and older if they may offer financial assistance for the applicant. This rule however, have been making it difficult for those in need to consider applying for public assistance, so Japanese government has just decided to change this rule recently.

多くの困窮者に生活保護申請を躊躇わせてきた、親・兄弟・成人した子などの親族に連絡し、経済援助できるかどうかを問い合わせる「扶養照会」の見直しが決まりました。

The welfare ministry will notify local governments they don’t have to ask the applicant’s family any more only if they are not having contact each other for about 10 years. The change here is that local bodies didn’t have to do the family inquiry when the applicant and family were not keeping in touch at all for 20 years, but now the period is shortened for 10 years.

これまで、「２０年間音信不通」の場合には照会しなくていいとされていた運用を、「１０年程度」に短縮する正式通知が国から自治体向けに出されることになったのです。

I saw some criticizes that this notification of change is too little to encourage people to apply for welfare, but actually those local governments had had authority to decide not to contact to the applicant’s family depending on each situation. Therefore, when I, as a gyoseishoshi lawyer made application form for public assistance for my client, I wrote down request or demand not to contact to my client’s family by phone or mail or whatever method with proper reason and there was no case that local bodies didn’t listen to those demand.

こんな微々たる変更では意味がないと批判する声が目立ちますが、とはいえ、実際には個別に様々な配慮すべき事情があるので、福祉事務所は臨機応変にこれまでも対応することはできました。行政書士として生活保護申請書を作成する際、親族への扶養照会をしないでほしいという要請をお客様のご希望で記載することは多々あり、実際そうした理由を明記した申請書を提出、受理されたケースで申請者の意に反した扶養照会が勝手になされたことは行政書士の私の知る限りありません。

However, I have my own experience that I felt I was left behind by local authority when I was in real poverty about 20 years ago. If it’s a case of asking for help from my aging parents, I thought I would rather solve it myself.

とはいえ、行政書士の私も、自分自身が生活困窮者だった立場のときには、役所の職員から言われたことは言葉通りに受け止めるしか術がなく、知識もなく、年老いた親に連絡されるくらいなら自分で何とかしようと抱え込み、生活保護を断念した過去があります。

Recently, my young foreign friend who has just started working as a teacher in Japanese elementary school seemed surprised and asked me.
‘Why are there so many children who are unable to afford school books and basic materials for education even though there is income assistance for the poor (called Seikatsu hogo; Public Assistance in Japan.)

日本の小学校で働き始めたばかりの外国人の友人は、最近とても驚いた様子で私に尋ねてきました。
「生活保護という生活困窮者への経済支援がある日本で、どうして学校で使う本や教材を買ってもらえない子どもたちがいるの？」と。

Poverty in Japan had been rarely visible even from long before the coronavirus crisis.

日本における貧困はコロナ危機よりずっと以前から、影を潜めて存在していました。

I had been one of those Japanese who believed there is little begging and homeless in Japan until I came to Osaka about 12 years ago in my late 20s.

私自身も、２０代後半で約１２年前に大阪に来るまでは、日本国内には物乞いやホームレスは殆どいないと思っていたのです。

The poor in Japan had been quietly hidden in shadows away from sight, but now because of coronavirus crisis, poverty is increasing at alarming rates.

日本の貧困層は社会の片隅で多くは声を上げることもなくひっそりと堪え忍んでいたものの、新型コロナウィルスの危機によって貧困に陥る人が急激に増えています。

This picture was taken last December at district where many homeless are sleeping on the ground even during cold winter some of them even die by morning…the man on the picture is a president of Osaka company with warm heart who is doing volunteer work for many years to help people on the street by providing blanket or warm rice ball, curry and rice and so on.

昨年１２月に真冬でもホームレスの多い地域を訪れた際の写真です。中には朝までに寒さで亡くなってしまう方もいるそうです。私と一緒に写っている方は大阪の企業の社長さんで、長年にわたり寝袋の配布や温かいおにぎりやカレーの提供など、ボランティアで路上生活者の支援をされている心の温かい方です。

One of my female clients said once she got into her 40s, she found she wasn’t even being invited to interviews for part-time positions and felt fear when her rent’s due day drew closer.

４０代女性のお客様は、パート職の面接にさえたどり着けなくなり、家賃の支払い日が近づくにつれ恐怖心に苛まされたと。

Before COVID-19 desaster, she kept working without fail even though her career had been a series of non-regular jobs with relatively low wages so applying for public assistance welfare was one of those circumstances she always thought had no relation to her life.

非正規雇用で比較的安い給与だったとはいえ、社会に出てから途切れることなく常に仕事をしてきたお客様にとって、生活保護申請というのは自分の人生には関係のないものだという認識だったそうです。コロナ前までは。

She graduated from private university during the period 1993-2004 after the bubble economy burst what is called ‘employment ice age’ in Japan so she had always been in non-permanent work.

バブルがはじけた後のいわゆる就職氷河期とされる1993年～2004年の期間に大学を卒業し、その後ずっと非正規労働に従事してきた方でした。

She was raised by strict but kind parents so she didn’t want to tell them she was facing poverty ended up searching on the internet to solve the situation and then, she found me, a gyoseishoshi-lawyer; certified expert authorized to prepare documents to be submitted to public agencies.

厳しくも優しいご両親に育てられたお客様は、貧困に陥ってしまったことを親には知られたくないと思い、状況を打破するためにインターネット検索していたところ、官公署への書類作成等を業とする行政書士の私のことを知ったとのこと。

Once unemployed due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, she said she made lots of applications and applied to whatever industry via several recruitment websites but few led to interviews.

コロナ感染症拡大の影響により職を失ってから、いくつもの求人サイトを活用して履歴書も沢山作成、あらゆる業種に応募したにも関わらず、面接にさえ殆どたどり着けなかったそうです。

Before she came to our Gyoseishoshi Lawyer’s office, she went to the ward office by herself but the waiting area were almost all full and it took over 30 minutes when she finally got a chance to talk to the government employee.
‘There are people whose circumstance is even worse than you.’
The word soon told by the government employee made her upset.

行政書士事務所を訪ねる前にお客様自身で役所に足を運んだところ、大変混雑しており３０分以上待たされた挙句、すぐに「あなたより深刻な状況の人はいるから」と言われたことで心が折れてしまったといいます。

I explained to her that she has right to use public assistance depending on her situation and she said she had been hesitating to apply such program due to prejudice but if only local government won’t contact to her family, she said she want to be saved, so I made some documents for her right away and sent information swiftly to municipal government. She could borrow some money from government office that day to buy food and so on as there is about 14-30 day waiting period before the start of initial benefits.

状況に応じて生活保護制度を利用する権利があることを私が説明すると、お客様はとにかく家族に連絡をされないのであれば生活保護を受けたいと希望されたので、その場ですぐに生活保護申請書を行政書士が作成し、当日中に役所から貸付金の交付も受けることができました。生活保護申請をしてから、実際に初回の保護費を受け取るまで大体１４日から３０日ほどかかることが多いので、その間の食費等を賄うための貸し付けを受けたのです。

The burden caused by the coronavirus crisis is greater for socially vulnerable people who cannot afford to collect information so I as a gyoseishoshi lawyer am willing to help prevent those people from slipping through the system and not receiving proper aid amid virus crisis.

情報弱者でもあることの多い社会的弱者ほど、コロナの負の影響を受けている傾向があります。行政書士として、コロナ禍において適切な公的助成を受けるべき人が正当に受けられるよう、引き続き尽力して参りたいと思います。