The jobless and the temporary workers(semi-unemployed), who are incapable of reproducing self-manpower only with their wages, are increasing because of the collapse of Japanese-style employment system, the repetition of short-term employment and unemployment, the unstable employment, and the low wages. In addition, this situation is getting fixed. Unemployment insurance does not function well with respect to application requisite, reception qualification, and the number of paydays of basic allowance. Therefore, the role of the livelihood protection program becomes critical as a last resort. However, the current law accepts only the elderly as a main recipient of livelihood protection; it is not enough covering the young with unemployment even if the number of total recipients is increased. The main reason is the law’s requirements of labor capacity. The unemployed or semi-unemployed young with labor capacity cannot satisfy them because the government lowered the recipient standard drastically through Aug. 2013 regulation.
The writer, in this article, argues that this sharply narrowed requirement standard violates the Japanese Constitution Article 25, Section 1 and 2, which stipulates the right to life as liberty and the state’s duty to enhance the livelihood protection programs. This article claims that the Livelihood Protection Act should be revised to cover the unemployed or semi-unemployed young as a recipient of the livelihood protection payment by opening the work capacity requirements for application.