Japan's Food Squeeze Leaves More Than 90% of Low-Income Families Struggling to Feed Children

Rice cuts and missed meals reveal pressure on family budgets

More than 90% of low-income households surveyed by Save the Children Japan in June 2025 said they struggled to afford food for their children. Around 60% had reduced or stopped buying staples such as rice because of the cost. The survey covered nearly 8,000 households and about 14,000 children, showing how sharply rising prices are affecting families already short of money.

Japan is often associated with prosperity and abundant food. Yet many parents are finding that food on supermarket shelves is beyond their budgets. Food insecurity means lacking reliable access to enough affordable, nutritious food. For these households, the immediate problem is having enough money to buy what their children need.

School meals have become a crucial source of nutrition. More than half of the low-income families surveyed said their children did not have enough to eat at lunchtime during school vacations, compared with less than 8% when school lunches were available. Breakfast, dinner and access to meat and fish were also under pressure.

By July 2025, food prices excluding fresh items were rising at 8.3% from a year earlier, while core consumer prices rose 3.1%. Rice prices had doubled over the preceding year. Stagnant wages, restrictions in agricultural policy, weather damage and the cost of imported food were combining to squeeze household purchasing power.

The consequences extend beyond smaller portions. Families are reducing the variety of what they eat, parents are skipping meals, and food banks are facing greater demand while some recipients struggle to afford the electricity or gas needed to cook donated food.

What the surveys show about access to food

The June Save the Children Japan survey describes hardship among low-income households with children. A nationwide survey by the Institute of Science Tokyo examined a broader population and found that nearly 44% of Japanese people had lost weight or gone an entire day without eating because they could not afford food.

Low-income families, households with one parent, people in rural areas and those with lower educational attainment faced particular difficulties. In Tohoku and Kyushu, more than half of respondents were in what the survey called a "food security crisis group."

Takeo Fujiwara, director at the Institute of Innovate Research, described the central obstacle as the ability to pay for food:

The issue is not a lack of food but financial barriers to purchasing it,

Fujiwara also identified social vulnerability, low priority given to nutrition and limited access to grocery stores as contributing factors. Together, these pressures affect both what people can afford and how easily they can obtain it.

A Kidsdoor survey added another measure of household strain: 80% of lower-income families with children said their finances were much worse than the previous year. Many identified the price of rice as a major reason, with some struggling to put enough food on the table.

Children lose a reliable meal when schools close

School lunches are nutritionally balanced and subsidized, making them a dependable part of the diet for children whose families have little money. The contrast between term time and school vacations shows how much those meals matter: lunchtime food shortages affected less than 8% of surveyed low-income families when school lunches were available, but more than half during holidays.

Breakfast and dinner were also becoming harder to provide. Compared with the previous year, the share of families reporting sufficient or fairly sufficient meal quantities fell by more than 11 percentage points for each of those meals. Across all meals, the proportion reporting insufficient portions for children had risen.

Meat and fish were becoming less frequent parts of children's diets. Only about a quarter of families said their children ate fish or meat almost every day, while nearly two-thirds reported less frequent consumption. These foods supply protein, which children need as they grow.

Children in families with low incomes are especially vulnerable to nutritional deficiencies. Poor childhood nutrition can affect physical growth and cognitive development, including the ability to learn, and can increase the risk of chronic diseases later in life. The pressure on family meals is therefore a concern for both immediate hunger and future health.

Why rice and other food have become more expensive

Japan's food inflation has outpaced the broader rise in prices. In July 2025, the 8.3% annual increase in food prices excluding fresh items was more than twice the 3.1% increase in core consumer prices. For families spending much of their income on essentials, that difference makes the cost of everyday shopping especially difficult to absorb.

Rice, a staple of the Japanese diet, had doubled in price over the preceding year. Supply shortages, crops of poorer quality following extreme weather, and increased demand for dishes made with rice as tourism surged all contributed to the pressure.

Japan also depends heavily on imported wheat, soy and other staples. Its food self-sufficiency rate, measured by calories, was 38% in 2023. This measure describes the share of the country's food energy supplied by domestic production.

The war in Ukraine and crop failures associated with climate conditions have pushed up the cost of imported food. Households are therefore facing pressure from both expensive domestic rice and higher prices for foods brought in from abroad.

Wages have not kept pace with these food costs. Even where broader inflation remains moderate by global standards, a household whose income changes little has less purchasing power when its usual groceries become more expensive.

How agricultural policy shapes the rice squeeze

Japan maintains a rice self-sufficiency rate close to 100%, supported by policies intended to protect domestic rice farmers. These include strict production controls, high import tariffs reaching 778%, and subsidies that discourage flexibility when supply or demand changes.

Production controls limit how much farmers produce, while tariffs raise the cost of imports. The combination protects domestic producers but can make it harder to respond quickly to a shortage. Experts have argued that weather, tourism and supply problems alone do not fully explain the rise in rice prices.

When the rice shortage struck in 2024, the government refrained from releasing emergency reserves or increasing imports. Consumers faced soaring prices and empty store shelves, with families on low incomes especially exposed.

The main dates behind the squeeze show how pressures accumulated:

• 2023: Japan's food self-sufficiency rate on a caloric basis stood at 38%.
• 2024: A rice shortage brought rising prices and empty shelves while the government refrained from releasing emergency reserves or increasing imports.
• June 2025: Save the Children Japan's survey found that more than 90% of participating low-income households struggled to afford food for their children.
• July 2025: Food prices excluding fresh items rose 8.3% from a year earlier, compared with a 3.1% rise in core consumer prices.

Calls for reform focus on allowing agriculture to respond more flexibly while balancing protection for producers with affordable access for consumers. Proposed changes include reducing tariffs, reforming production controls and investing in crops that can better withstand difficult climate conditions.

Which households face the greatest strain?

Households with one parent, often headed by women, face lower incomes and higher poverty rates. Many single mothers report skipping meals themselves or relying on cheap foods with limited nutritional value to make their budgets last.

Older people living alone or relying on basic pensions can struggle to afford a varied, healthy diet. Social isolation adds another difficulty because eating alone is associated with less dietary variety and poorer health outcomes.

University students from rural areas are also increasingly turning to food banks. Many work part time to support themselves, but fewer job opportunities and rising living costs have made that harder. Students can be reluctant to seek assistance even when they need it.

Children depend on the resources available to the adults caring for them. In families already cutting staples, smaller portions and less frequent access to protein can become part of everyday life, especially when subsidized school meals are unavailable.

Some families face another financial squeeze when a child turns 18. Many households with one parent lose government benefits at that point, increasing pressure on budgets that are already stretched.

Food poverty also means less time, choice and enjoyment

Research on single mothers with low incomes in Japan describes food poverty as a problem with several dimensions. Money matters, but so do work schedules, lack of time, health problems, children's preferences and expectations about what a mother should provide.

An academic study described how these pressures affect mothers' own eating:

The mothers often skip meals, especially breakfast and lunch, due to time constraints, work schedules, and ingrained habits,

The same study described the expectations surrounding meal preparation:

Most meals are prepared at home out of necessity, and there is a strong sense of guilt when relying on ready-made or aid-provided meals, influenced by societal expectations of motherhood.

Meals are often basic, with families relying on leftovers and prepared foods while losing some of the pleasure of eating. A parent may be managing the cost of ingredients, the time available after work and a child's willingness to eat the food, all at once.

Research involving older people also connects diet with social contact. Men receiving public assistance had substantially lower food diversity than men who were not receiving it. Eating with others was associated with greater food diversity and better well-being.

Food diversity means eating a range of foods rather than repeatedly relying on a narrow selection. For older people and single parents, support that makes shared meals possible can address both isolation and limited variety.

Food banks face demands beyond filling a parcel

Food Bank Kanagawa, Kidsdoor and community meal programs have become lifelines for families, students and older people. Alongside food, these organizations provide social support, check on vulnerable recipients and help reduce the stigma attached to asking for assistance.

Rising utility costs are changing what help people can use. Some families struggle to afford cooking the food they receive, creating greater demand for items that need no cooking. A parcel of ingredients meets only part of a household's need when preparing a meal carries another unaffordable cost.

Food banks also encounter people at moments when other support falls away, including households losing benefits as children turn 18 and students whose part time earnings no longer cover living expenses.

Experts have argued that government programs are inadequate and that food insecurity is closely connected to growing inequality. Proposals include linking food redistribution to allowances for raising children and improving eligibility for assistance.

Greater government support for food banks, including investment in staff training and facilities, is another proposed response. Families have also expressed demand for regular food provision, food banks, community meals, school lunch subsidies and food distribution during school vacations.

Health risks grow as food choices narrow

Children facing poor nutrition can experience impaired growth and learning, while adults with limited dietary variety face poorer health and quality of life. Older people are particularly exposed when restricted food choices coincide with living alone.

Social isolation can worsen the difficulties faced by both seniors and single parents. Eating becomes less varied, and the social experience of sharing food can disappear alongside the ability to afford it.

Broader research across Asia links poverty and food insecurity with higher rates of type 2 diabetes and other noncommunicable diseases, conditions that do not spread from person to person. Rapid urbanization, environmental changes and changing diets have contributed to rising diabetes rates, with vulnerable populations at greatest risk.

For households making repeated cuts to food spending, the issue reaches beyond whether anyone goes hungry on a particular day. Quantity, nutritional quality, variety and the circumstances in which people eat all matter to health.

Proposals combine household support with changes in farming

Economic support proposals focus on helping families obtain food regularly. They include food distribution, stronger community meal services and support during school holidays, when children lose access to their usual subsidized lunch.

Agricultural proposals address the price and reliability of supply. Alongside changes to tariffs and production controls, they include investment in crops better able to cope with climate pressures. Heat waves, floods and other extreme weather can reduce harvests and crop quality, while droughts and disruptions to food supply chains create further risks.

Researchers warn that food insecurity is likely to deepen as climate change accelerates, with vulnerable households among the first affected. Suggested responses include agriculture that can withstand changing conditions, community gardens and reductions in global pollution.

Social measures concentrate on making it easier for people to eat together and stay connected. For older people and single parents in particular, communal meals can support dietary variety and well-being as well as provide food.

Young people in Japan are also becoming more active in awareness campaigns and advocacy. The newly established IFAD Youth Club Japan aims to address poverty and hunger through education, outreach and collaboration with international organizations.

Federica Cerulli Irelli, Head of Donor Engagement and Partnerships at IFAD, described the value of supporting young people at the club's launch:

The benefits of investing in young people are limitless, contributing to food security, poverty alleviation, job creation, and fostering peace and political stability,

The proposals span immediate food assistance, household income, farming rules, climate action and social support. For families already reducing rice purchases or skipping meals, their common purpose is concrete: making enough nutritious food affordable and accessible throughout the year.

Key Points

• More than 90% of low-income households in Save the Children Japan's June 2025 survey struggled to afford food for their children; around 60% had cut or stopped buying staples such as rice.
• More than half reported insufficient lunchtime food during school vacations, compared with less than 8% when school lunches were available.
• Food prices excluding fresh items rose 8.3% in July 2025 from a year earlier, while core consumer prices rose 3.1%. Rice prices had doubled over the preceding year.
• Households with one parent, children, older people and students face particular financial and nutritional pressures.
• Food banks and community meals provide essential assistance, but rising costs and limits in government support add to demand.
• Proposed responses include regular food support, help during school holidays, agricultural reform, shared meals and investment in farming suited to changing climate conditions.