Over 30% of Struggling Families Can’t Provide Enough Rice for Their Children

* Survey period: October 9th to November 11th
“Try not to cook too much rice.” Over 30% of economically disadvantaged families with children are unable to feed their children enough rice | HuffPost News
The international child support NGO Save the Children will distribute “Children’s Food Support Boxes” filled with food and other items to 5,006 economically disadvantaged families with children during the winter break when school lunches are no longer available. Huffington Post Japan Editorial Department
December 15, 2024 13:30 JST
The international child support NGO Save the Children will distribute “Children’s Food Support Boxes” filled with food and other items to 5,006 economically disadvantaged families with children during the winter break when school lunches are no longer available. A survey conducted by the organization also revealed that more than 30% of these households were not feeding their children enough rice. From October 9th to November 11th, the organization conducted a survey about the food situation of those who requested a support box. Of the 5,006 households, 94.2% are single-parent households. In response to the question, “Do you think your child has eaten a sufficient amount of rice outside of school lunches in the past week?” 32.6% answered, “They don’t eat much for financial reasons.” For the same reason, 2.4% of households said they were barely eating any. When the 1,754 households who answered that they were not eating enough rice were asked to give multiple reasons why, the most common answers were “because wages have not increased to keep up with the rising cost of rice and rising prices of other things” (76.1%) and “because income is low to begin with” (72.9%). Many people answered that they “have to prioritize paying utility bills and rent” (49.9%) and “have to prioritize paying for school supplies, education, and other expenses related to their children” (38.9%), suggesting that this is having an impact on their daily meals. When asked what they do when their children cannot eat enough rice, the survey revealed that adults are being forced to make restraints in order to get their children to eat, with responses such as “reducing the amount of rice parents eat” (85.5%) and “reducing the number of meals parents eat” (57.5%). In the free-form comment section, one wrote, “Rice has become twice as expensive now, so I can’t feed it to my children as much as I would like. I eat one meal a day” (woman in her 40s, single parent, two children), “Everything is so expensive I can’t afford it. They are forced to endure hardships because they cannot provide enough food. Even when I try to cut back on my meals, there isn’t enough, so it’s a problem.” (Woman in her 30s, single parent, 2 children) “My children are growing and I want them to eat a lot, but I try not to cook too much rice. I’m worried about food costs during the New Year holidays because my kids are always there.” (woman in her 30s, single parent, 3 kids) etc. (omitted)

*See source for full text.

「ご飯をあまり炊かないように」。経済困難な子育て世帯の3割超で子どもに十分なお米を食べさせられておらず

子ども支援の国際NGO「セーブ・ザ・チルドレン」が給食がなくなる冬休みにあわせ、経済的に困難な状況にある子育て中の5006世帯に食品などを詰め合わせた「子どもの食 応援ボックス」を配布します。

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