Affluence and Poverty: Relative Poverty of Children in Japan.

The relative poverty rate of children in Japan stands at 16%, indicating that one child out of six is growing up in poverty. However, the concept of relative poverty is not well known even among researchers, policy makers and the general public, and the consequences of growing up poor in an affluent society are not understood. This paper discusses how the notion of poverty is strongly affected by the Japanese public's anti-materialistic sentiment, which inhibits consideration of relative poverty as an issue. It also discusses how relative poverty leads to the social exclusion of children, and how it affects children through parental stress, isolation and time constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]