Japan Times: Residency requirement eyed for child allowance

[Twoller]

Wow. Apparently Japan will subsidize your children if you are a foreigner, even if the children are not even in the country. Citizens are struggling to change that.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Residency requirement eyed for child allowance

Kyodo News

The government will consider requiring the children of foreign parents living in Japan to also live here to qualify for child allowances, health minister Akira Nagatsuma said Wednesday, as the House of Councilors began deliberations on the subsidies.

"We will consider stipulating a residency requirement for children to be eligible for the provisions when we give full consideration to the (allowance) structure for fiscal 2011," Nagatsuma said during the plenary session.

But he added he does not intend to amend the current bill to include a residency requirement. That bill, if passed into law, will provide the subsidies only for this fiscal year, which starts April 1. "We will make sure that proper documents are submitted to verify one's eligibility," he said.

The child care bill, which was approved by the House of Representatives on Tuesday, would fulfill one of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan's key campaign promises.

It would allow foreigners who are expected to live in Japan for one year or more to receive child allowances even if their children remain overseas.

The Liberal Democratic Party, the main opposition force, has criticized that provision, suggesting some people may claim nonexistent children to get larger subsidies.

Under the one-year program, households would receive ¥13,000 per month for each child of junior high school age or younger. If the legislation is enacted this month as expected, the first installment would be paid out in June, ahead of the July Upper House election.

The article is originally posted at the following link:

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...0100318a1.html