Social Security Policy Making in Japan – How Science Has Been Adopted into Politics?

Desciption

Japan has a more than 1,000-year tradition of helping people in poverty, although the benefit amounts were quite far from enough until the end of World War II. Research on poverty and relief has been ongoing in government agencies since the late 19th century. Its history includes the struggles of diverse stakeholders to gain a scientific, evidence-based understanding of poverty, to change society\’s view of poverty through science, and to embed science in policy. The speaker has a Master\’s degree in physics and was a researcher in the semiconductor industry, but now, is widely known in Japan for her journalistic works on poverty issues. She, who earned her PhD in research on social security policy-making in Japan, will provide the ongoing struggles, dis-communications, and misconducts in the process of incorporating science into policy making in Japan.