Being a Single Mother in Japan is not Easy! While World is Becoming Progressive, Women in the Most Developed Country are Suffering
Japan does not believe in joint custody and hence, women are the ones who are solely and financially responsible to raise their children.
Raising a child alone is never easy, no matter where you stay. But in one of the most developed and richest countries, single parents face the most hazardous situation. While the world is striving really hard to progress, women in Japan continues to suffer. Reason? Well, the country does not believe in joint custody and hence, they are the ones who are solely and financially responsible to raise their children. Last year, during Christmas eve a 4-year-old boy was beaten horrifically which shook the entire nation. He was covered with bruises and being suffered from catastrophic internal bleeding, he was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Soon after the incident, the child’s mother and her two boyfriends were arrested by the police officials. As the news sparked outrage in Japan, a single mother of two, Orie Ikeda came forward and said that she can understand the reason behind such a cruel assault. She told Bloomberg, “It could have been me.” She continues to explain, “I didn’t abuse my children only because I was lucky.” The report further stated that Ikeda managed to undergo a government training course that eventually helped her to secure one of the lowest-paid jobs.
In Japan, most of the single mothers survive as they earn less than half the national median income, the poverty line defined by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Hence, one in every seven children in Japan experiences poverty. The children are on an average poor, less educated and have fewer prospects. It has been stated in the report that working women earn roughly 30 percent less than men in the similar job and about 60 percent of women are engaged in part-time, contract or temporary jobs where payment is lower with no benefits at all. “Your choices become very narrow when you don’t have money,” said the 52-year-old Ikeda.
While the population of Japan is declining, the number of single-mother households in the country as per the labour ministry rose by about 50 percent to 712,000 between 1992 and 2016. In such case, India is leading with a positive note as we have strong single mothers who have nurtured their children solely challenging all the taboos. And over the time we have seen great instances of daughters making their mumma and the entire nation proud. Femina Miss India World 2018, Anukreethy Vyas and Actress Pooja Chopra are few out of many great examples.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 25, 2018 06:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).