While many people are in need of living due to the influence of the new coronavirus, they hesitate to apply for welfare protection because of "support inquiry" to inquire about relatives, and support groups request a review of operation because there are cases where support does not arrive. I am working on it and plan to submit it to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

"Dependent inquiry" is to notify the relatives and make inquiries when the local government asks the person who applied for welfare protection about the financial situation of the relatives and determines that there is a possibility of receiving assistance.



The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has notified the local government that it is not necessary to make a "dependent inquiry" if the relatives are being domestic violence or abused, or if the relatives are generally over 70 years old.



As a result of a questionnaire survey of 165 people who visited the counseling session during the year-end and New Year holidays, a support group in Tokyo found that most of them were in need of living, but 78%, or 128 people, did not receive welfare protection.



Of these, 34% said that they didn't like being known to their families, and there were a number of cases where they hesitated to apply for welfare protection because of "dependent inquiries" and did not receive support.



For this reason, since last month, we have been collecting signatures on the Internet requesting a review of operations, such as making dependent inquiries only when the person applying for welfare consent consents and can clearly expect assistance from relatives.



According to the organization, the number of signatures collected is more than 33,000 as of one day, and will be submitted to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare next week.



Tsuyoshi Inaba of the support group "Tsukuroi Tokyo Fund" said, "When I interviewed some local governments in Tokyo, there were almost no cases where dependent inquiries led to assistance from relatives. The government received the necessary support. I want to ask for a response. "



The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has reminded the local government that it is inappropriate to explain as if a dependent inquiry is a requirement, such as not accepting applications for welfare protection until after consulting with relatives. After that, "Applying for livelihood protection is the right of the people. Everyone has the possibility of needing livelihood protection, so please do not hesitate to contact us."