``Even though it's money for tuition ...'' The wall of welfare faced by a hard-working student December 2, 12:40

"Good ruling. District Court

GJ"

"Good. If this goes through, all children born in poverty will sink into poverty."

received a great response.

Kumamoto Prefecture decided that it was illegal to discontinue the welfare of a couple in their 70s for "a certain reason."

The reason is that the income of the granddaughter who lived with this couple (= grandparents) has increased.

At that time, her granddaughter was studying at a nursing school and working at a hospital to pay for her school fees.

The prefectural government thought that if the granddaughter's earnings were used for her grandparents' finances, she would not need public assistance.

The ruling has revealed the challenges faced by young people trying to break out of the cycle of poverty by entering universities and vocational schools.

(Kumamoto Broadcasting Station Reporter Yuya Kishikawa)

``Illegal termination of public assistance'' Grandson goes on to higher education Family with increased income Kumamoto District Court

Kumamoto Prefecture Appeals Illegal Judgment to Terminate Public Assistance Due to Increased Income of Grandson

Living with grandparents and granddaughter

The subject of the trial was the household of grandparents and grandchildren in Kumamoto Prefecture.

When my granddaughter and her husband divorced, my grandparents adopted their young granddaughter and have been living together ever since.

After working in the manufacturing industry, my grandfather made a living by growing oranges.

However, in 2013, he fell while harvesting and injured his leg, making him unable to work.

Then his grandfather got cancer and needed regular hospital visits.

My granddaughter, who was raised by her grandparents, tended to withdraw until junior high school due to the influence of her parents' divorce, but she attended high school part-time and graduated.

In 2014, I entered the Associate Nursing Department of Nursing College.

I went to school because I wanted to acquire skills and get a stable job.

I decided to cover the entrance fee and tuition by working part-time at a hospital along with a scholarship.

My grandparents relied on a pension of just under 120,000 yen a month to cover their living expenses, but the medical bills piled up and they ran out of savings.

So my grandfather went to the welfare office for advice on welfare.

Then, because my granddaughter was attending a vocational school, she explained the procedure for "separation of households."

"Family separation" necessary for entering higher education

What is the procedure?

In fact, in households receiving public assistance, in principle, children are only allowed to attend school up to high school.

It is not possible to use public assistance to pay for university or vocational school tuition.

However, if it is recognized that it is effective in promoting the independence of children, it will be possible for them to go to school while living with their parents, etc. by certifying them as a separate household by separating the household from their parents.

This is "segregation of households".

However, children must cover their own tuition and living expenses through scholarships and part-time jobs.

In addition, the welfare expenses of households such as parents will be reduced for separated children.

In the summer of 2014, my grandparents and granddaughter "separated" and my grandparents started receiving welfare benefits.

My granddaughter was able to continue to live with us and attend school.

Her school fees and her own living expenses were covered by her working income.

Separation of households lifted due to granddaughter's income increase

Two years later, in 2016, the situation changed.

Her granddaughter graduated from an associate nursing course and went on to nursing with the aim of becoming a nurse.

An additional 440,000 yen was required for admission fees and textbook fees.

Apart from this, the monthly tuition fee is 45,000 yen, which is more than that of the assistant nursing department.

On the other hand, my hourly wages for part-time jobs have increased as a result of my qualification as an assistant nurse.

It's just that there are times when you can't work a lot of practical training in the nursing department.

In anticipation of this, I needed to save money for tuition, and because I worked a lot of shifts, from April to November of this year, my monthly income decreased from about 80,000 yen to an average of 80,000 yen. So my take home increased to about 130,000 yen.

I would leave home at 6 or 7 in the morning, work at the hospital, go to school during the day, and work at the hospital again at night.

It was during this time.

In December, a caseworker from a welfare office in Kumamoto Prefecture interviewed the family and found out about the increase in the granddaughter's income.

The prefectural government decided that the granddaughter's income and the grandparents' pension would exceed the minimum living expenses of 162,000 yen for three people, so the next month, the family separation was lifted and the grandparents' public assistance was terminated. is.

It was a decision that if the money my granddaughter earned was used for the household budget, welfare would not be necessary.

Granddaughter's increased financial burden goes to trial

My granddaughter got a big shock.

She said she sometimes expressed her fears to her grandparents,

"she may not be able to pay for nursing school when it comes to supporting them."

She became withdrawn again and was diagnosed with "depression" and took a temporary leave of absence from school.

Her grandfather filed a request for review to the national and prefectural governments to cancel the separation of households, but both were rejected.

For this reason, in June 2020, we filed a lawsuit with the Kumamoto District Court.

At the trial, Kumamoto Prefecture argued as follows and demanded that the lawsuit be dismissed.

"The grandchildren's income has increased significantly, and the grandparents and grandchildren's households have become economically independent, so we lifted the family separation. It is a rational decision, as it cannot be said to hinder school attendance.

" If your income falls below the minimum cost of living, you can apply for public assistance again, so you don't have to worry about future financial concerns."

After more than two years of hearing, the Kumamoto District Court handed down the judgment on October 3rd.

Judgment “Focusing only on superficial phenomena, lacking the perspective of promoting independence”

The court ruled that the prefectural government's decision to lift the separation of households was illegal because it deviated from and abused the scope of its discretion.

As long as the cancellation of household separation is illegal, the income of the grandparents' household will not exceed the minimum living expenses, and the termination of public assistance is also illegal.

Details of that decision.

About the purpose of "household separation" is to promote independence by allowing people to receive education at universities and vocational schools while living with family members who receive public assistance, and to acquire skills.

About this case.

At the time of the separation, the grandchild was living with his grandparents, studying at a nursing school, and covering his tuition with income from the hospital and scholarships.

Obtaining a nurse qualification makes it easier to find a job at a hospital, etc. than just an assistant nurse qualification, and increases wages and job satisfaction.

It is clear that continuing to separate households would have contributed to the financial independence of grandchildren and grandparents.

Regarding the prefecture's decision to terminate public assistance.

Because the focus was solely on the superficial phenomenon of a significant increase in income, there was a lack of perspective that household separation continues to be effective in promoting the economic independence of grandchildren and grandparents. It should be said that it was remarkably lacking in rationality.

He then pointed out:

It was easy to predict that if the grandparents' public assistance was terminated, they would suffer financially, and there would be a high possibility that their grandchildren's attendance at school would be hindered.

Prefectural Governor Appeals “Desperate Thoughts”

Oct. 17 deadline for appeal.

The prefecture appealed to the Fukuoka High Court, and Governor Kabashima responded to the interview online.

Governor Kabashima : Public

assistance is legally entrusted work (performed by the prefecture on behalf of the national government with strong national government involvement). However, I had no choice but to comply with the government's decision, and I filed an appeal out of desperation."

On the other hand.

"I heard from the person in charge that, based on the notification from the government, the necessary expenses were confirmed so that the grandchild could continue attending school, and after judging that the household was able to become independent, public assistance was abolished. The current system, In response to the notification, the person in charge has no choice but to make the decision to terminate the protection.Therefore, at the same time as the appeal, I also raised the issue of operation with the parliamentary vice-minister of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. is"

We also asked the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, which decided to appeal, for their views.

A person in charge of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's Rehabilitation Division said,

"In the ruling, there were parts that differed from the government's approach to household certification. Since the dispute is pending, I will refrain from answering what is different. We will clarify in the lawsuit in the future. I want to continue

Expert: Is going to university a luxury?

Regarding this trial, a former caseworker and an expert in welfare administration points out as follows.

Professor Jun Yoshinaga, Hanazono University

"As indicated in the ruling, there may have been a problem with the series of punishments by the prefecture. With the grandchild's household separated, he has to pay for his tuition and living expenses on his own for his own future." As a result, the income increased, and it was not realistic to use that money to support their grandparents.Children attending college or vocational schools were expected to successfully graduate and find employment. After that, it seems that the normal response is to ask them to support their families as much as they can.We should have considered from a longer-term perspective whether it would help them to become independent.”

In the future, he points out that it may be necessary to review the operation of public assistance and children's school attendance.

“Currently, going on to university or vocational school from welfare households is considered a luxury and is not permitted unless the household is separated. more than 80%.

Even if vocational schools are included, the number of households on public assistance is 40%, which is far below the current situation.

I think the time has come to allow those who wish to go on to higher education while receiving welfare support.”

Professor Yoshinaga says that in the long run, it will also benefit the nation's finances.

"For example, it's a simple calculation, but if you receive 50,000 yen a month for 4 years while you're in school, you'll get 2.4 million yen in 4 years. It's generally said that the lifetime income of a high school graduate and a university graduate is 60 million yen different, so I'd rather not go to university. If they successfully graduate from school, we will have to pay more than the 2.4 million yen we donated as taxes."

"Education is very important to break the cycle of poverty. However, it is necessary to break away from the idea that it is a 'luxury' and discuss it."

to break the cycle of poverty

On social media, there are quite a few harsh opinions about households receiving public assistance, but this time there were a lot of opinions that supported the ruling.

Since it was also linked to the problems of poverty and education among the younger generation, I feel that many of the comments were from the desire to support young people who are striving to learn.

How to deal with increased income while attending school.

I believe that this ruling, which was presented from the perspective of the future independence of the children of recipient households, has great significance in that it emphasizes that "education is important in breaking the cycle of poverty."

On the other hand, the government is currently reviewing the welfare system once every five years. We are considering dealing with it.

The reason is that there are people who have graduated from high school and are looking for a job, and there are people who pay their own tuition fees, so the balance was taken into consideration.

However, it is undeniable that the percentage of people from households on public assistance who go on to college is far below the average for all households.

I feel that there is a need for sincere discussion on what kind of systems and systems are effective so that the number of young people who have no choice but to give up on further education due to poverty will be reduced.

Kumamoto Broadcasting Station Reporter

Yuya Kishikawa Joined the station

in 2020.

So far, I have mainly been in charge of reporting on heavy rain disasters and incidents.With

this trial as an opportunity, I would like to continue reporting on themes such as welfare and youth poverty.