30 Pct of Needy Youths Anxious about Year-End, New Year Holidays

Tokyo, Dec. 2 (Jiji Press)–A survey by a Japanese nonprofit organization has shown that 32.8 pct of needy young people are worried about how to get by during the upcoming year-end and New Year holiday season. Many respondents are seeking food supplies or financial aid to cover costs of heating, according to the organization, DxP, based in the western Japan city of Osaka. The NPO, which helps young people in need, emphasizes the importance of providing assistance before public consultation and other support windows close for the holidays. The survey was conducted in October for 8,502 people who use DxP’s consultation service via free messaging app Line. Valid responses were received from 531 people, whose average age was 18.9. According to the survey, 17.5 pct of the respondents are worried about the holiday season, and 15.3 pct are very worried. In contrast, 22.4 pct said they are excited or very excited about the holidays, and 33.9 pct said they have no particular feelings. As for reasons for the anxiety, with multiple answers allowed, 65.5 pct, the largest group, pointed to financial difficulties, followed by 29.3 pct who said they have no place to be and 23.0 pct who cited the closures of public facilities and hospitals. On what kinds of support they need during the holidays, 50.1 pct said they want food to be delivered to their homes, 34.8 pct called for financial aid to cover heating bills and 30.5 pct sought places offering free meals. Asked about problems during the holiday period, a 20-year-old woman said that a consultation facility and medical institutions she regularly visits are closed during the holiday period. A woman, 24, said, “I was once afraid that I might freeze to death when I couldn’t pay my heating bills because I fell ill and couldn’t earn money.” “There are many young people who cannot consult their families or schools for help, and such people tend to be isolated especially during the year-end and New Year holidays, when support organizations are closed,” DxP head Noriaki Imai said. “We hope administrative authorities will create online or other systems that make it easier for needy people to seek help, in order to make sure that necessary assistance is provided before the closures of support organizations,” he said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]