It has been a year since the government started repaying the "special loan" that the government provides for living expenses to households that have lost their jobs or experienced a decrease in income due to the effects of the new coronavirus, but approximately 46% of those who need to repay have not made the repayments. I found out that I haven't started.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare plans to continue providing support to people whose income has not recovered since the coronavirus outbreak.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has provided interest-free loans of up to 2 million yen for living expenses from four years ago until the year 2020 to households that have lost their jobs or experienced a decrease in income due to the effects of the new coronavirus, with a total of approximately 3.82 million loans, totaling 1. This amounted to 443.1 billion yen.
Repayments for this "special loan" began in January last year for the earliest households, but 660,000 of the approximately 1.44 million households targeted for this loan, or 46%, began repayment by the end of December last year. A summary by the Social Welfare Council revealed that this is not the case.
On the other hand, approximately 1.11 million loans, or 29% of all loans, were exempted from repayment due to residence tax-exempt households, and approximately 110,000 loans, or 3%, were suspended due to reasons such as illness or unemployment.
Since the coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has continued to provide support, such as repayment counseling, to people whose income has not yet recovered after assessing their individual living situations.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare says, ``We believe it is important to connect people who are still struggling to make ends meet with the support they need.If you are having trouble making repayments, please consult your local social welfare council.''
Expert: ``Create a system where the government takes the lead and provides long-term follow-up''
Takashi Okabe, a full-time professor at Meiji University who is familiar with the issues of people living in poverty, said, ``Among the people who have not been able to repay the special loan for the new coronavirus, there are many people who have a lot of debt, people who have disabilities, etc. There are people who are facing challenges in their daily lives.Even if they were earning an income, prices have risen more than that, and their living conditions have not recovered to before the spread of the coronavirus, creating a situation where it is difficult to repay the loan. "It's true," he said.
``Recognizing that people who are unable to make repayments are in a difficult situation, the local social welfare council will work with them to consider ways to rebuild their lives while providing financial support and employment support.'' This is important, and it is necessary for the government to take the initiative and establish a system for long-term follow-up."