【PovertyisnotfirstthingthatcomestomindwhenyouthinkofJapan．Afterall，therearenochildrenbeggingonthestreetsinmajorcitieshere．YoudonotoftenseeJapanesecitizenspubliclylettingouttheircomplaintsoverthecountry'sec】

　　PovertyisnotfirstthingthatcomestomindwhenyouthinkofJapan．Afterall，therearenochildrenbeggingonthestreetsinmajorcitieshere．YoudonotoftenseeJapanesecitizenspubliclylettingouttheircomplaintsoverthecountry'seconomicdecline．ButseniorgovernmentresearcherAyaAbesaysJapanhasthefourthhighestrateofchildpovertyamongdevelopedcountries．

　　Shesayssheseesthatpovertyinschoolswherestudentsadmittoonlybathingonceaweek．Somecannotaffordtobuypencilsforclass．

　　"Theymaynotbeonthestreetsbeggingortheymaynotbeturningintocriminals，butit'sthere．It'sjustthatwehavetoopenoureyesandsee，"Abesaid．

　　Abeowestheincreaseinchildpovertytothecountry'schangingdemographics（人口统计），strugglingeconomyandhighsocialsecuritypremiums（保险费）．Shesaysfewerpeopleliveinthree-generationhouseholds，wheretheparentsandgrandparentswork．Thenumberofsinglemothershasincreased．Thesalaryforyoungfathershasdeclinedwiththeeconomicdownturn．Socialsecuritypremiumshaveincreasedinthelast20years，puttingfamiliesontheedgeofpoverty．

　　AbesaysstudiesconductedbytheOrganizationforEconomicCooperationandDevelopment （OECD ） pointtorisingpovertyinJapanbeforetheglobaleconomiccrisesin2008．ButtheJapanesegovernmentandthepublicrefusedtoacknowledgeituntilthenpartlybecauseoftheshameassociatedwithpoverty．

　　"ItwasveryunpopularforJapanesemediatosayanythingaboutJapanesepoverty，"saidAbe．"EventhoughOECDJapanannounceditinJapanese，Japanesemediadidn'tmakeitintothearticles．"

　　AbesaysnewPrimeMinisterYukioHatoyamahastakenoneimportantsteptohelpalleviate （缓解） theproblem．Nextyear，hisDemocraticPartyofJapanplanstodoublemonthlychildcareallowancesgiventofamilies．

　　ButAbewantsthegovernmenttoexpanditsfinancialhelpevenmore．Shewantsittosimplifytheprocesstoapplyforpublicassistanceandprovideeducationalgrantsforstudentsstrugglingtopayfortuitionathighschoolsandcolleges．Thecountrynowonlyoffersloans．

　　Abealsosaysthegovernmentmustactquicklybecauseshesaystheproblemwillonlygetworseinthenextfewyears．