Japan Govt to Increase Financial Aid to Noto Earthquake Victims; Help Aimed at Households with Elderly or Disabled Members

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:16 JST, February 2, 2024

The government will create a new program in which financial assistance of up to ¥3 million will be provided to households with elderly or disabled members in six municipalities in the northern Noto Peninsula, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday.

The program is aimed to help residents of the disaster-hit area, which has a large elderly population, rebuild their lives.

Kishida made the announcement at the first meeting of the Noto Peninsula Earthquake headquarters for restoration and recovery support.

Under the new program, the government will provide up to ¥2 million to each household whose house was at least half destroyed to help with the reconstruction and up to ¥1 million to help them replace or repair household goods that were damaged.

Under the current program to help disaster victims, a household whose house was completely destroyed can receive up to ¥3 million in financial assistance. However, with the new plan, those households affected by the Jan. 1 earthquake will be eligible to receive up to ¥6 million each.

For families raising children and young people, the government will help them pay the interest on home loans, among other support measures.

“We have to provide ample support to prevent a significant population outflow,” Kishida said.

To lessen the tax burden on disaster victims, Kishida said the government plans to submit a bill with a clause allowing preferential treatment to be given to those affected by the earthquake by allowing losses accumulated in the disaster to be deducted from their 2023 taxable income.