著者

後藤 昌彦

出版者

藤女子大学

雑誌

藤女子大学紀要. 第II部 (ISSN:13461389)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.48, pp.149-157, 2011-03

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The one of the principles of the Public Assistance Act is the supplementary nature of welfare (Public Assistance Act, Article 4). "Duty of kinship support," in terms of the receipt of public assistance, was established (National Assistance Act Article 4 Clause 2) on the assumption that "any support given by a person responsible for support prescribed by the Civil Code (Act No. 89 of 1896) and any assistance prescribed by any other Act shall be provided in precedence to public assistance under this Act". Today's applicants for welfare face greatly changed conditions in terms of duty of kinship support, and family social and economic environment to when the Public Assistance Act was enacted in 1950. Nevertheless, administrative guidance for the enforcement of the duty of kinship support for the receipt of welfare dates from that time. However, 60 years have now passed since the enactment of the Public Assistance Act and, due to the conditions imposed by the duty of kinship support for the receipt of welfare, the welfare administrators faces various problems and various difficulties arise in their response to welfare applicants. In this study I discuss the deficiency in the supplementary nature of welfare in duty of kinship support from three standpoints: 1) changes in family structure, 2) changes in the public attitude to kinship support and 3) the obsolete nature of the welfare office's handling of the duty of kinship support. As a result, in order to adapt to today's family situation and public awareness, I emphasize the necessity of changing of the notion "duty of kinship support" to that of" duty of life preservation" when dealing with the receipt of welfare.