Farewell my Concubine
It's easy to tell who's who. The women with short hair and earth-colored clothes are members of the Single Mothers Forum (SMF). The women in the pastel suits, thick makeup, and beauty-shop hairdos are politicians. And the trio of bureaucrats from the Ministry of Health and Welfare are the easiest to recognize, since two of them are men. The hearing on this hot July day is held in a meeting room in the Diet's Upper House building. The SMF - some of whose members have been lobbying this ministry since the early 1980s - want to change regulations regarding child support benefits for unwed mothers. They are especially concerned with the regulation that says an unwed mother will lose her benefits if a man officially acknowledges her child as his offspring - regardless of whether he actually provides financial support.
By Philip Brasor and Masako Tsubuku for Tokyo Journal
The lobbyists also want to discuss the child support application form, which includes questions the SMF considers irrelevant and intrusive. And they want the word "mekake" ("concubine") struck from the handbook used by caseworkers who determine eligibility for child support.In normal procedure, groups like the SMF put pressure on politicians who can influence legislation. But there is a shortcut - they can talk to the notoriously faceless bureaucrats face-to- face, since many regulations can be changed by ministry directive. So today the question is "Do bureaucrats respond to pressure?"
Hiroko Oizumi, the chief of the ministry's family welfare section, stands up. Smiling, she explains that she has held the position for only two weeks. "Since I'm a bit old, it's difficult for me to absorb everything, so I've brought two of my colleagues who are veterans in these matters." The section chief indicates the two gray-suited, bespectacled male bureaucrats who flank her.
She sits down and begins. "The ministry assumes that a man who acknowledges the paternity of a child will support that child. Child support is essentially the giving out of money, so the system must be transparent. And as you probably know better than I, many unwed mothers are involved in common law relationships. That's why we ask so many questions of mikon no josei." She pauses, confused at the frowns around her. "Isn't it all right to use mikon?A loud "No!" fills the room.
Shaken, she continues, "As for the word 'concubine,' it's probably in the handbook because it is widely used in society. It takes a while before people realize that a word is discriminatory, so it probably can't be helped until we eliminate all such terms."
One of the politicians is astonished. "In 1984 we spent thousands of hours discussing these issues in the Diet, including the use of 'concubine,'" she says. "Didn't you read the Diet minutes?""I'm sorry, I didn't," the section chief replies.
The SMF changes tack. Its members start arguing that it is blatant discrimination to deny benefits to an unwed mother simply because a man has claimed paternity of her child - and yet not legally force that man to pay support. A divorced woman, on the other hand, is entitled to benefits as soon as her divorce is finalized.
"We do stop benefits to the unwed mother after the father acknowledges the child," the ministry's section chief admits. "But if the father does nothing for one year, we recognize that as abandonment and will then reinstate the woman's benefits.""Then why are divorced mothers entitled to benefits right away?" asks Yasuko Kurosaki, one of the SMF's leading lights.
"It's not about illegitimate children," the chief says. "There are many more children of divorced parents than there are illegitimate children."
"Numbers are irrelevant," retorts Kurosaki. "Why is the child's eligibility based on the status of the parents?""It's based on the person who's supporting that child. We don't consider that discrimination. but I suppose it could lead to that. I admit that the letter of the law doesn't consider it from the child's viewpoint."
Kurosaki decides to change subject. "What happened to the survey results we requested?" (When some of the group's members met with the ministry last November, they had requested statistics about single mothers' incomes.)
"We haven't finished preparing them," Bureaucrat One says blandly."When will they be ready?"
"Maybe by the end of the year."
"But you promised to have them ready by now."
"Who promised?" he asks. The whole room explodes in frustrated laughter. None of today's bureaucrats were at the November hearing. Bureaucrat One says he will talk to the person who made the promise.Another Diet member then gives a polite and poignant speech about society's basic prejudice toward unwed mothers.
"Very enlightening," the section chief remarks afterwards. "We have to get rid of social discrimination first. It's obvious that this isn't a problem that can be solved by the ministry."
"But several years ago you eliminated terms that signified legitimacy from national insurance cards," says Kurosaki. "Obviously, you can make those changes yourself."A third politician points out that all the ministry has to do is remove the clause excluding children whose fathers have acknowledged them. "You can do that with an executive order," she tells the bureaucrats.
The SMF's Chieko Akaishi then recalls how, in the early 1980s, "conservative forces" in the ministry and the Diet tried to revoke all benefits for unwed mothers. "One of the bureaucrats in November told me that's why it's difficult to change the law, but that was 10 years ago," she says, her voice breaking with emotion. "Tell us what the obstacles are, and we will work with you to get rid of them. Every day we read about some politician's mistress, and yet they say they can't give money to 'concubines.'"
Oizumi, the section chief, is obviously moved. "Within my authority, I cannot give you a definite answer. I know it sounds like something bureaucrats always say, but I will continue to study it. By the way, why can't I use the word 'mikon??"The women explain to her that, although most people use mikon to mean "unmarried," it literally means "not married yet." They prefer the more neutral hikon. Then someone brings up the "concubine" issue again: Can't the ministry simply remove it from the next edition of the caseworker's handbook?
The two male bureaucrats sit stonefaced while their superior, with a pained expression, does something that bureaucrats are not famous for doing. She slowly lifts her arms above her head to form a circle: maru which means "correct" or, in this case, "Okay." Applause. The meeting ends and the pastel suits dash off to the Upper House chambers for a vote.
The SMF leaves the meeting room in high spirits. All they extracted from the ministry is a gestured promise - not even a verbal one - to remove an offensive word from a handbook that is used only by a small corps of civil servants. Still, they hadn't really expected to get anything. "Today, the bureaucrats were more sincere than they've been in the past," Akaishi tells us outside. "But that's probably because there was a woman involved." For the women of the Single Mothers' Forum, it is a small victory.
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