Fighting child poverty to eliminate education inequality in Japan

Access to quality education is essential for a child’s development and future life opportunities. In Japan, as elsewhere, poverty can create massive education inequality and gaps in study and life outcomes for students.

In the Japanese context, this usually means students being left behind due to educational expenses. The country only has compulsory education up to junior high school, and high school costs tuition.

Hidden educational expenses too high, as are the stakes

The vast majority of students do go on to high school, and the government does provide some tuition support. However, other expenses go into successful high school studies and moving on to college. Many junior high and high school students go to juku or cram schools after their regular high school days for further education. The fees for these schools can be several tens of thousands of yen per month for one subject. While not strictly necessary, juku lessons provide an overwhelming advantage. Students whose families can not afford cram school fees risk not passing high school and college entrance exams.

Smaller expenses such as university entrance test fees and textbooks can also be a burden for families living in poverty. There are organizations that provide support for families in need. The non-profit organization Kids Door has recently given 50,000 yen each in scholarships to 284 high school seniors to help them with preparing for these exams.

A 2021 survey by Kids Door also shows the impact that poverty can have on education disparity. The survey was aimed at third-year high school students and their guardians. Most surprising is the effect their financial situation had on higher education opportunities. More than half of respondents said that the number of universities they applied to was reduced. A surprising 71% of respondents said that they could only apply to one university entrance exam. In addition, 51% of survey takers said they either could not go to cram schools or were thinking of not moving on to higher education.

Kids Door projects aim to end poverty cycle

The effects of poverty are passed down from generation to generation. For Japan, the rise of lower-income, unstable employment has likely contributed to poverty. Some students may even drop out of school entirely to seek employment, though this limits their future job opportunities to lower-income work.

Over half of children in poverty come from single-parent households, many headed by single mothers. The overwhelming majority of students who received the Kids Door scholarship came from single-parent families, and more than half of those made two million yen a year or less.

COVID-19 has made things even more difficult for these students. School closures and other restrictions have impacted them in ways that upper-income families do not face. Respondents in the Kids Door survey complained of not having their own quiet room to study at home, and library closures meant not having other suitable places to study at. The coronavirus crisis has also led to even more severe outcomes for some students, with many respondents giving up on higher education to find work instead.

The pandemic has highlighted existing inequalities in various parts of society. However, it is clear that children from lower-income families have had an especially difficult time adjusting, with some falling to adverse outcomes. Financial support and more affordable education would certainly not solve all issues, but the Kids Door scholarship shows that it can go a long way in reducing education disparity. The opportunities created from proper support benefit not only the children involved but also society as a whole.