Child Rearing Allowance Act

• A child (児童) under this Act is anyone up to the first 31 March on or after the day they reach 18, or anyone under 20 with a disability of the degree a Cabinet Order (政令) sets. A marriage (婚姻) includes a couple living as if married without registering the marriage, and a father (父) includes a man who was living with the mother in that way when she conceived the child.(Art. 3(1), Art. 3(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• It is not paid for a child who has no address in Japan or is placed with a foster parent (里親) under the Child Welfare Act (児童福祉法), nor to a mother, father or carer who has no address in Japan. For a mother or carer, it is also not paid for a child who shares a livelihood with the father, unless the father is disabled to the degree a Cabinet Order (政令) sets, or who is brought up by the mother's spouse (配偶者, which includes a partner living with her as if married), unless that spouse is the child's father disabled to that degree. For a father, the same holds with the roles swapped: not for a child who shares a livelihood with the mother, unless she is so disabled, or who is brought up by the father's spouse, unless that spouse is the child's mother so disabled.(Art. 4(2), Art. 4(3), Art. 3(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• The Act sets the allowance at 41,100 yen a month, plus 10,750 yen a month for each child after the first among the children the recipient looks after or brings up. Both figures are revised from April in proportion to any rise or fall of the yearly national consumer price index against a reference year, by Cabinet Order (政令). A recipient who comes to look after or bring up another child is paid the higher amount from the month after applying for it, with the same 15-day allowance after a disaster or other unavoidable reason as for a first application; when the number of children falls, the lower amount applies from the month after.(Art. 5(1), Art. 5(2), Art. 5-2(1), Art. 5-2(2), Art. 5-2(3), Art. 8(1), Art. 8(2), Art. 8(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• To receive it, a person must have their entitlement and its amount certified (認定) by the prefectural governor or mayor who pays it (都道府県知事等), and again if they qualify anew after ceasing to. Payment runs from the month after the application to the month the entitlement ends; a person kept from applying by a disaster or other unavoidable reason who applies within 15 days after it ends is paid from the month after it began. It is paid in January, March, May, July, September and November, each time for the months up to the one before.(Art. 6(1), Art. 6(2), Art. 7(1), Art. 7(2), Art. 7(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• If the recipient's income in the previous year is at or above an amount a Cabinet Order (政令) sets by the number of their dependents and of the children they supported, all or part of the allowance is withheld from November of that year to the following October; where the recipient is a parent, child-rearing costs the child receives from the other parent count towards that income, as that Order sets. The allowance is withheld in full for those months where the previous-year income of the recipient's spouse, or of a relative obliged to support them under the Civil Code (民法) who shares their livelihood (for a carer, who maintains it), is at or above a limit a Cabinet Order sets.(Art. 9(1), Art. 9(2), Art. 10(1), Art. 11(1), Art. 13(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

• 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

  Act No. 68 of 2022The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 November 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

  Act No. 47 of 2024The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 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

  Act No. 47 of 2024The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 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

  Act No. 47 of 2024The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2023

  Act on Arrangement of Relevant Acts Incidental to Enforcement of the Act for Establishment of the Children and Families Agency

  こども家庭庁設置法の施行に伴う関係法律の整備に関する法律

  Act No. 76 of 2022The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 22 June 2022

  Act on Arrangement of Relevant Acts Incidental to Enforcement of the Act for Establishment of the Children and Families Agency

  こども家庭庁設置法の施行に伴う関係法律の整備に関する法律

  Act No. 76 of 2022The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 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

  Act No. 68 of 2022The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2022

  Act Partially Amending the National Pension Act, etc. to Strengthen the Functions of the Pension System

  年金制度の機能強化のための国民年金法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 40 of 2020The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 March 2021

  Act Partially Amending the National Pension Act, etc. to Strengthen the Functions of the Pension System

  年金制度の機能強化のための国民年金法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 40 of 2020The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 January 2021

  Act Partially Amending the Income Tax Act, etc.

  所得税法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 8 of 2020The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

All 22 amendments already in force

• Where both the father and the mother, or the father and a carer, qualify for the same child, the father receives nothing for that child; where the mother and a carer both qualify, the carer receives nothing.(Art. 4-2(1), Art. 4-2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• For the carer of a child one of whose parents has died or is not known to be alive or dead and who has no other parent, or of another child a Cabinet Order (政令) names, the income test that withholds all or part of the allowance does not apply. Instead, the allowance is withheld in full from November to the following October if the carer's previous-year income is at or above a separate amount a Cabinet Order sets.(Art. 9(1), Art. 9-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where an earthquake, storm, flood, fire or similar disaster destroys about half or more of the value of the home, household goods or other property a Cabinet Order (政令) names of a person or of their spouse or dependents as the Income Tax Act (所得税法) defines them — not counting what insurance or damages made good — the income limits are not applied to that person's income of the previous year or the year before, for the allowance from the month of the loss to October of the following year. If that person's income in the year of the loss reaches the limit, the allowance paid in that time must be returned in whole or in part, as a Cabinet Order sets.(Art. 12(1), Art. 12(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• All or part of the allowance for a child is withheld, as a Cabinet Order (政令) sets, while the child can receive a public pension (公的年金給付) for a parent's death, unless it is suspended in full, or survivors' compensation (遺族補償) under the Labor Standards Act (労働基準法) or a like benefit for a parent's death within 6 years of the event. The same holds while the child counts towards an addition to a public pension paid to the father (where a mother or carer receives the allowance) or to the mother (where the father does). Public pensions are those Article 3(2) lists, such as the national pension, employees' pension insurance and workers' accident compensation pensions.(Art. 13-2(1), Art. 3(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• All or part of the allowance is withheld, as a Cabinet Order (政令) sets, while the recipient can receive a public pension (公的年金給付) other than a disability basic pension (障害基礎年金) or like disability benefit and the old-age welfare pension (老齢福祉年金) kept under Act No. 34 of 1985, unless it is suspended in full, or survivors' compensation (遺族補償) for a parent's death within 6 years of the event. A recipient who can receive a disability basic pension or like benefit has withheld an amount equal to that pension's addition for children.(Art. 13-2(2), Art. 13-2(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• For a mother or father (not a carer), part of the allowance is withheld, as a Cabinet Order (政令) sets, once 5 years have passed since payment began or 7 years since they first qualified — or, for one who looked after a child under 3 when applying, 5 years from the month after that child turned 3 — but never more than half of what is due. This does not apply while they have a disability or another reason a Cabinet Order names, as a Cabinet Office Order (内閣府令) sets.(Art. 13-3(1), Art. 13-3(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• If a recipient dies with allowance still unpaid, it can be paid to those who were the children they looked after or brought up.(Art. 16(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

• The prefectural governor, the mayor of a city (市, including the head of a Tokyo special ward) or the mayor of a town or village (町村) that runs a welfare office (福祉事務所) — together 都道府県知事等 (the governor or mayor) — certifies entitlement and pays the allowance; part of the work may be done by the mayor of a town or village without a welfare office, as a Cabinet Order (政令) sets. The governor or mayor must give applicants and those reporting counselling, information and advice, and may support parents receiving the allowance in their living and work.(Art. 4(1), Art. 6(1), Art. 33(1), Art. 28-2(1), Art. 28-2(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A person receiving the allowance must report to the governor or mayor the matters, and submit the documents, a Cabinet Office Order (内閣府令) requires. If they fail to without good reason, payment can be temporarily stopped.(Art. 28(1), Art. 15(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where needed, the governor or mayor may order a recipient to submit documents on their entitlement and the amount, including on child-rearing costs paid by the child's father or mother, and have officials, who must carry identification and show it on request, question the recipient, the child and others concerned. Where the allowance turns on a disability, they may order the recipient to have the disabled child or parent examined by a doctor they name, or have an official examine them. They may also ask public offices, the Japan Pension Service (日本年金機構) and pension mutual aid bodies for records, and banks, trust companies, the recipient's employer and others concerned for reports, on the assets and income of the recipient, the child, and the recipient's spouse and relatives obliged to support them, and on public pensions paid to the recipient, the child or the child's parents.(Art. 29(1), Art. 29(2), Art. 29(3), Art. 30(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• All or part of the allowance can be refused if the recipient, without good reason, disobeys an order to submit documents or see a doctor, or will not answer an official's questions or be examined; if they markedly neglect the child's care or upbringing; or if they make a false application or report. It can also be refused to a mother or father (not a carer) who, without good reason, does not look for work or take the other steps towards self-reliance a Cabinet Office Order (内閣府令) sets.(Art. 14(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• An allowance paid when it should not have been, an amount to be returned after a disaster year, and an allowance paid in full when it should have been reduced can be counted against later payments. From a person who received it by deception or other wrongful means, the governor or mayor may collect all or part of what they received, in the way unpaid national taxes are collected. The National Pension Act's (国民年金法) rules on demand notices, enforced collection and the late-payment charge (延滞金) apply to that collection, the charge at 14.6% a year; for now, in a year when the special base rate for delinquent tax (延滞税特例基準割合) under the Act on Special Measures Concerning Taxation (租税特別措置法) is below 7.3%, the charge is that base rate plus 7.3%.(Art. 31(1), Art. 23(1), Art. 23(2), Suppl. Prov.(8), National Pension Act Art. 96(1), National Pension Act Art. 96(4), National Pension Act Art. 97(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. When a recipient dies, the person obliged to report the death under the Family Register Act (戸籍法) must also notify the governor or mayor, as a Cabinet Office Order (内閣府令) sets, and one who does not faces a non-criminal fine (過料) of up to 100,000 yen.(Art. 35(1), Art. 28(2), Art. 36(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A person who objects to the prefectural governor's decision on the allowance may request a review (審査請求) by the governor, and so may a person who objects to a decision made by an office to which a city mayor, or a town or village mayor running a welfare office, delegated the work. The governor must decide within 60 days of the request (or of correcting it, where the governor ordered a defect corrected), or 80 days where a review body is consulted under the Administrative Complaint Review Act (行政不服審査法); if no decision comes within 60 days — or 80, where the requester was told of such a consultation within the first 60 — the requester may treat the request as rejected. The governor's ruling may be taken further by a request for re-examination (再審査請求) to the Prime Minister (内閣総理大臣).(Art. 17(1), Art. 17-2(1), Art. 18(1), Art. 18(2), Art. 20(1)) (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 money received as the allowance. The right lapses 2 years after it could first be exercised.(Art. 24(1), Art. 25(1), Art. 22(1)) (the provisions it rests on)