Subsidy for Housewives

Being frustrated with subsidy for housewife without her own income or with low income, Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, required his consultative commission to consider reviewing current system. The reform can be introducing broader tax reduction for working housewives to implement his growth strategy. However, it is unclear whether the new policy will encourage working women or discourage housewives who want to stay home to take care of family.

Private companies and public service offices distribute subsidy for workers’ spouse for supporting to take care of daily life of family. According to research by the government, the average of subsidy for spouse in private companies is around ¥14,000 a month, while for workers in the national government is about ¥13,000. Those subsidy stops, if annual income of spouse reached ¥1.03 million, or ¥1.30 million in some cases.

This system is unpopular for working wives, because the harder she works, the less likely she will be covered. For a worker who earn annual income of ¥1.03 million, monthly income should be around ¥86,000. It is even lower than some part time job by college students. If a wife has high skill and profile, she can never expect accepting the subsidy at all. So some working wives report her income as lower than actual amount, violating law. Some others abandons taking job to receive the subsidy.

Leaving a question about why he only looks at housewives, leaving househusbands aside, Abe takes on the side of working women. “I will remove obstruction against working women,” he told in the Consultative Conference for Economy and Finance. The reform will raise the border line between the subsidized and non-subsidized. It is likely that subsidy for spouse with income less than ¥1.03million will be reduced.

It is still unclear whether the reform will work for increasing working mothers. Wives with high motivation and ability has already been working on her own, regardless subsidy is applied or not. For a housewife who had been making illegal report with short amount on her income, new system will be an incentive for correct report. However, for wives with some reason of being unable to work, necessity for taking care of her elderly mother or father for example, new system makes her life unaffordable.

Realizing that one half of election voters are women, Abe’s woman policy has an aspect of populism. While stressing “society with woman brightness” or “woman participation to society,” he is taking advantage of women for his growth policy. However, his strategy may be labeling women with no job as lazy.