Requests for government help due to financial stress higher again in 2023

The number of households in financial stress that sought public assistance in Japan rose for the fourth straight year in 2023, as recent inflation piled pressure on people already hurting in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, welfare ministry data showed Wednesday.New applications for welfare benefits increased 7.6 percent from the previous year to 255,079, the most since 2013 when comparable data became available, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.The latest figure suggests some sections of society have failed to see wage rises in line with inflation despite government…READ FULL ARTICLE