A Writer on Poverty Issues on “Life Begins with a Negative

The pain that those who are “born with it” do not understand.

My relatives are all laughably poor. My aunt and uncle all graduated from junior high school and have been working part-time jobs. I never received any New Year’s money, and I was told that going to high school was a luxury, so for a long time I thought that there was no such thing as a university system in the Showa period.

I thought for a long time that there was no college system in the Showa period,” says Hioka, a writer. Poverty among children leads to an education gap, which in turn leads to a gap in annual income, and the social loss is said to be as much as 40 trillion yen. We asked her about the situation of the poor in Japan.

People running on the paved road and those who fill in the holes before walking away

He added, “If you’re poor, get a high school diploma and go to work.””You, too, make a living off poverty, don’t you?” When Mr. Hioka contributes his own experiences, he receives sympathy, but at the same time, the Internet is flooded with many slanderous comments.

“I was poor too. The reason I can’t get out is because I’m not trying hard enough. But there is a huge gradation among the poor, and no two people have the same starting point.

Parents spend the money from their part-time jobs, don’t allow their children to go on to higher education, come to them without asking for money, or have domestic violence problems even after they enter the workforce. What they are carrying on their backs is different, so their case is completely irrelevant to other people’s circumstances. If you say, “If you work hard, you won’t be in that situation,” then how do you explain the low wages of essential workers?

There are two types of people in the world: those who can run on a paved road quickly and easily, and those who can only start walking after filling in the holes in the road. Mr. Hioka’s image is like that. The number and depth of the holes are different for each person.

The “poverty tax” that increases due to lack of initial investment and lack of options.

There are holes everywhere that need to be filled. For example, there are those who give up club activities in junior high and high school because they cannot afford to pay for uniforms. If you don’t participate in extracurricular activities, you will have less to put on your unofficial application, which will affect where you go to school and, in the future, your job search.

In interviews, I am often asked why I didn’t join an athletic club, but people don’t know that there are people who can’t participate in club activities. Even in college, my friends are accumulating things they can put on their résumés, such as “I’ll take the civil service exam, get a teaching license, and do volunteer work. I can do that because my parents are paying my tuition and living expenses and I don’t have to work part-time.”