Child Allowance Act
児童手当法
The child allowance (児童手当): a monthly payment to the people raising children, to steady family life and help children grow up healthy.
- Text in force since
- Promulgated
- Articles
- 34
- Amendments on the way
- 0
What this law does
- A child (児童) under this Act is anyone up to the first 31 March on or after the day they reach 18 who has an address in Japan, or who has none for study abroad or another reason a Cabinet Office Order (内閣府令) sets. A father (父) under this Act includes a man who had not registered a marriage with the mother when she conceived the child but was then living with her as if married.(Art. 3(1), Art. 3(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
Read the full overview
- The allowance goes to a parent with an address in Japan who looks after a child (other than a child in care, 施設入所等児童) and shares a livelihood (生計を同じくする) with them, or to the child's guardian of a minor (未成年後見人) where there is one. Where the parents (or guardian) live outside Japan and support the child, it goes to a person in Japan they designate who lives with the child, looks after them and shares a livelihood with them; where living together is found to be difficult, looking after the child and sharing a livelihood is enough. A person in Japan who looks after and supports a child whom no parent, guardian or designated person looks after or shares a livelihood with also receives it.(Art. 4(1)(i), Art. 4(1)(ii), Art. 4(1)(iii)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Where two or more of the parents, a guardian and a designated person look after a child and share a livelihood with them, the one who does more to support the child receives the allowance. But where only one of them lives with the child, and that one does not share a livelihood with the others, the one living with the child receives it.(Art. 4(2), Art. 4(3), Art. 4(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
- The allowance is 15,000 yen a month for each child under 3 and 10,000 yen a month for each child aged 3 or over. For a parent or other recipient under Article 4(1)(i) to (iii) who is not a corporate guardian, the third and each later child brings 30,000 yen a month whatever their age, the children the recipient is certified for being counted, in effect, from the eldest. Persons up to the first 31 March on or after the day they reach 22 whom the recipient looks after and largely supports, as a Cabinet Office Order (内閣府令) defines, and who live in Japan or are abroad for study or another reason that Order sets, count first in that order but bring no allowance themselves; young people whose child-welfare placement has been extended under the Child Welfare Act (児童福祉法), and those that Order likens to them (延長者等), do not count.(Art. 6(1)(i), Art. 6(2)(i), Art. 6(2)(ii), Art. 6(2)(iii), Art. 6(2)(iv), Art. 6(2)(v), Art. 6(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
- To receive it, a person must apply for certification (認定) of their entitlement and its amount: to the mayor of the municipality where they live (市町村長, including a Tokyo special ward head), or where its main office is for a corporate guardian; a foster parent applies where they live, and the operator of a foster home, independent-living assistance or a facility where the home or facility is. Payment starts the month after the month of the application and ends with the month the entitlement ends. Someone who moves to another municipality must apply again there, and an application within 15 days of the move — or of the end of a disaster or other unavoidable reason that stopped them applying — counts from the month after the move or after the reason began.(Art. 7(1), Art. 7(2), Art. 7(3), Art. 8(2), Art. 8(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
- It is paid six times a year — in February, April, June, August, October and December — each time for the months up to the one before; an amount owed from the previous payment, or for a period in which the entitlement has ended, can be paid in another month. When the amount would rise, the higher amount is paid from the month after the recipient applies for it, or, if they apply within 15 days of a move or of the end of an unavoidable reason, as for a first application. When it would fall, the lower amount applies from the month after the cause arose.(Art. 8(4), Art. 9(1), Art. 9(2), Art. 9(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
Who receives the child allowanceAmount of the allowanceApplying for certificationPayment monthsReports to the mayorRecovering wrongful paymentsPublic servants
Contents
Amendments
A Japanese law is changed by another law or order that rewrites it — an . No amendment to this law is waiting to come into force. Its amendment history is below. The amendments this site has read the changes of are on this law's amendments page, provision by provision, in Japanese and English.
19 amendments already in force
1 June 2025
The text on this site
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Penal Code, etc.
刑法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整理等に関する法律
1 October 2024
Act Partially Amending the Act on Support for Children and Child-rearing, etc.
子ども・子育て支援法等の一部を改正する法律
12 June 2024
Act Partially Amending the Act on Support for Children and Child-rearing, etc.
子ども・子育て支援法等の一部を改正する法律
1 April 2024
Act on Support for Women Facing Difficult Problems
困難な問題を抱える女性への支援に関する法律
1 April 2024
1 April 2024
Act Partially Amending the Child Welfare Act, etc.
児童福祉法等の一部を改正する法律
17 June 2022
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Penal Code, etc.
刑法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整理等に関する法律
1 June 2022
Act Partially Amending the Act on Support for Children and Child-rearing and the Child Allowance Act
子ども・子育て支援法及び児童手当法の一部を改正する法律
25 May 2022
Act on Support for Women Facing Difficult Problems
困難な問題を抱える女性への支援に関する法律
1 April 2022
Act Partially Amending the Act on Support for Children and Child-rearing and the Child Allowance Act
子ども・子育て支援法及び児童手当法の一部を改正する法律
1 April 2020
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.
所得税法等の一部を改正する法律
1 April 2020
Act Partially Amending the Act on Self-Reliance Support for Persons in Need, etc. to Promote the Self-Reliance of Persons in Need, etc.
生活困窮者等の自立を促進するための生活困窮者自立支援法等の一部を改正する法律
1 April 2020
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Civil Code
民法の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整備等に関する法律
8 June 2018
Act Partially Amending the Act on Self-Reliance Support for Persons in Need, etc. to Promote the Self-Reliance of Persons in Need, etc.
生活困窮者等の自立を促進するための生活困窮者自立支援法等の一部を改正する法律
1 January 2018
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc., and Other Matters
所得税法等の一部を改正する等の法律
2 June 2017
Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Civil Code
民法の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整備等に関する法律
1 April 2017
Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc., and Other Matters
所得税法等の一部を改正する等の法律
1 April 2017
Act Partially Amending the National Pension Act, etc. to Improve the Sustainability of the Public Pension System
公的年金制度の持続可能性の向上を図るための国民年金法等の一部を改正する法律
1 April 2017
Act Partially Amending the Child Welfare Act, etc.
児童福祉法等の一部を改正する法律
Who it applies to
It applies to
- Parents, guardians of a minor (未成年後見人), persons designated by parents living abroad, and other carers in Japan who look after a child, as the conditions for receiving the allowance set out. A person who receives it must use it for its purpose.(Art. 4(1), Art. 2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Foster parents (里親), those who run small-scale foster homes or independent-living assistance for young people, and those who run the facilities a child in care lives in — such as infant homes, children's homes and facilities for disabled children — who receive the allowance for the children placed with them.(Art. 3(3), Art. 4(1)(iv), Art. 7(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
2 more
- Municipalities (市町村), which pay the allowance; its cost is met by grants from the State and the prefectures (都道府県) and a municipal share, except the allowance for employees' (被用者) children under 3, which the State's grant meets in full, and the allowance of public servants, which their employer bears.(Art. 8(1), Art. 18(1), Art. 18(2), Art. 18(3), Art. 18(4), Art. 19(1), Art. 19-2(1), Art. 19-2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- The heads of the ministries and agencies, prefectures and municipalities that employ full-time public servants (and others a Cabinet Order (政令) sets), which certify and pay the allowance for their own employees; the State bears the cost for national public servants, and the prefecture or municipality for its own.(Art. 17(1), Art. 18(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
Special rules and exceptions (7)
- Full-time national and local public servants, and others a Cabinet Order (政令) names, apply to and are paid by the head of their own ministry or agency (for the courts, the Chief Justice), or of the prefecture or municipality they work for (for some school staff, the prefecture that pays their salary), or someone that head delegates, instead of their mayor; that head also recovers a wrongful payment. This does not cover those working for an executive agency (行政執行法人) or a specified local incorporated administrative agency (特定地方独立行政法人), nor what a public servant receives for children in care, such as a foster parent; for those they apply to the mayor. A change to an employer with a different certifier counts as a move: they apply again, and an application within 15 days loses no month.(Art. 17(1), Art. 17(2), Art. 17(3), Art. 14(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A child placed in foster care or living in a children's facility (施設入所等児童) brings no allowance to their parents; the foster parent or the facility's operator receives it instead. Short placements that a Cabinet Office Order (内閣府令) defines (for independent-living assistance, up to 2 months) do not count, nor does a child who only attends a child psychological treatment facility or a children's self-reliance support facility. A child in a mother-and-child living support facility (母子生活支援施設), or in an adult disability or welfare facility, counts only if they belong to a household made up of children alone, so a child living there with a parent is not a child in care.(Art. 3(3)(i), Art. 3(3)(ii), Art. 3(3)(iii), Art. 3(3)(iv), Art. 3(3)(v), Art. 4(1)(i), Art. 4(1)(iv)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A guardian that is a corporation, and a foster parent or facility receiving the allowance for children in care, get 15,000 yen or 10,000 yen a month for each child by age; the 30,000-yen rate for the third and later children applies only to parents and other recipients under Article 4(1)(i) to (iii) who are not a corporate guardian.(Art. 6(1)(i), Art. 6(1)(ii), Art. 6(1)(iii), Art. 6(2)(i), Art. 6(2)(vi), Art. 6(2)(vii), Art. 6(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Where the State or a local government is the facility recipient, the allowance is paid to the child in care, and the facility may keep the cash for them.(Art. 22-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- If a recipient dies with allowance still unpaid, the part for the child they looked after can be paid to that child.(Art. 12(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- When a child leaves foster care or a facility with allowance for them still unpaid to the foster parent or operator, that part can be paid to the child.(Art. 12(2), Art. 12(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
- A recipient may, before payment, offer all or part of the allowance as a donation to the municipality paying it, which then receives that part in their place and must use it to support children's healthy growth.(Art. 20(1), Art. 20(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
How it is enforced (8)
- The mayor of the municipality (市町村長) decides on certification (認定) and pays the allowance.(Art. 7(1), Art. 8(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- An individual receiving it as a parent or other general recipient must report to the mayor, as a Cabinet Office Order (内閣府令) sets, their income for the previous year and whether on 1 June of that year they were an employee (被用者) or in the other category the Act sets apart from employees (被用者等でない者, which takes in a public servant who receives the allowance for children in care); an individual receiving it for children in care, such as a foster parent, reports only the 1 June status. Every recipient must also give the other notices and documents that Order requires. If they fail to without good reason, payment can be temporarily withheld.(Art. 26(1), Art. 26(2), Art. 26(3), Art. 18(2), Art. 11(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Where needed, the mayor may order a recipient to submit documents on their entitlement, the amount and their employment status, and have officials, who must carry identification, question the recipient and others concerned. A recipient who disobeys the order or does not answer, without good reason, can be refused all or part of the allowance.(Art. 27(1), Art. 27(2), Art. 10(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- The mayor may ask public offices for records, and banks, trust companies, the recipient's employer and others concerned for reports, where needed to decide on the allowance.(Art. 28(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- An allowance paid when it should not have been can be counted against later payments. From a person who received it by deception or other wrongful means, the mayor may collect all or part of what they received, in the way unpaid local taxes are collected.(Art. 13(1), Art. 14(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Receiving the allowance by deception or other wrongful means is punishable by imprisonment (拘禁刑) of up to 3 years or a fine (罰金) of up to 300,000 yen; where the Penal Code (刑法) covers the act, the Penal Code applies instead.(Art. 31(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
- Where a recipient owes childcare fees (保育料) that the Child Welfare Act (児童福祉法) lets the municipality collect, the mayor may take them out of the allowance when paying it, after telling the recipient in advance the fee and the amount. At the recipient's own request, the mayor may also take school lunch fees and similar costs for the child out of the allowance.(Art. 22(1), Art. 22(2), Art. 21(1), Art. 21(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
- The right to the allowance cannot be transferred, pledged or seized, and no tax or other public charge may be levied on it. The right to the allowance, and the right to collect an allowance received by wrongful means, lapse 2 years after they could first be exercised; a notice or demand for that payment renews the period.(Art. 15(1), Art. 16(1), Art. 23(1), Art. 23(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
How it connects to other laws
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Where the translation comes from
- 548
The Ministry of Justice's translation is shown only where the Japanese it translates matches the law in force today. Everywhere else the English is a machine translation, marked on the paragraph itself.
Only the Japanese is the law, and no lawyer has reviewed the machine translation.
Sources
Everything this page rests on
- e-Gov (Digital Agency)児童手当法 — the text in force from 2025-06-01Original
- e-Gov (Digital Agency)児童手当法 — revision historyOriginal
- Japanese Law Translation, Ministry of Justice児童手当法 — its English title as the Ministry of Justice's translation database lists itOriginal
- Machine translation, not official
- Written for this site with AIEnglish titles of amending laws, written for this site
- Written for this site with AIDescriptions of each law, written for this site
- Worked out by this site from e-Gov's text