Japan ranked 34th out of 41 developed nations in UNICEF child poverty index

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/04/14/national/social-issues/japan-ranked-34th-41-developed-nations-unicef-child-poverty-index/#.Vx1z1jArKUk

Jake Kazmierczak

There is not much I can say about this article in terms of personal experience, despite having been to Japan multiple times. The issues discussed here do not seem at all prevalent and some of the stats are just simply shocking, to say the least. I have no doubt that these are all true statistics though and I really wonder where this insane poverty could be happening in Japan. The article claims that the poorest families with children in Japan make ~800,000 yen a year.... which is just insane, that's about equal to $8,000 in the US. All I can suspect is that these families are rural and survive mainly off of their own crops, though having visited a farming village in the middle of nowhere, I must say that despite living modestly, these families seemed to be rather well off. The article says Japan ranked 34 out of 41 with a 60% income gap meaning that the annual household income of the poor families was less than 40% the average income. I still struggle to understand Japan, and this is a prime example of that struggle. When comparing what I know about  the Japanese system I naturally compare it to the US, and see it in many ways as better. That being said, considering that the US scored 30th on the same test, how much of a difference really is there? What might this say about the cultural differences between both nations? I think poverty is framed completely different in both countries and taxes are used in very different ways... Then again maybe I'm missing something because I don't live there yet.