Over 1.6 million people on welfare, up 62,000 amid economic slump+

TOKYO, April 2 Kyodo -
A total of 1,618,543 people were receiving welfare benefits nationwide as of
January, up about 62,000 from a year earlier against the backdrop of a
weakening economy, data compiled by the welfare ministry showed Thursday.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said that the number of recipients
was up by 12,000 since last December, due partly to the fact that more and more
nonregular and laid-off workers applied for the welfare program.
Among the applicants were people who gathered at a temporary tent village set
up in Tokyo's Hibiya Park over the year-end and New Year period.
Elderly people living alone and single-mother families are also believed to
have joined the program.
The number of households on welfare as of January stood at 1,168,000, up 52,000
from the previous year.
According to an earlier report by the ministry, some 192,061 nonregular workers
have become jobless or are going to be dismissed in the period between last
October and this June.
==Kyodo