Don’t miss out: Complete List of Financial Benefits for Pregnancy, Birth and Child Care
There are many different forms of financial support for the pregnancy, birth and baby journey. I have been seeing many different articles and posts talking about some or the other. However, I have not seen a complete list with all the benefits my family is receiving. My experience is based on having two babies as a resident in Minato Ku in Tokyo, Japan.
Here is the complete list of all the ways you can get paid or reimbursed. Do not miss out on any!
Subsidy for Prenatal Health Examinations
In more practical terms this is a set of coupons or tickets for your pregnancy check ups. They are provided by the ward you live in. In Minato Ku you receive coupons for the regular pregnancy health check ups, for the big ultra sound screening, for a cervical cancer screening and the new born hearing test.
The coupon for the 1st visit is worth 10,850JPY. For the 2nd to 14th visit, the coupons are worth 5,070JPY. For the two prenatal ultrasound exams the coupons are 5,300JPY and 3,400JPY for the prenatal cervical cancer exam. This is based on the year 2021
Child Birth Lump Sum
This is a benefit by the health insurance, either via your company or the national health insurance, to cover the expenses for delivery. This means every mother can receive it.
The lump sum is 420,000JPY.
There are 2 ways to apply for it. You ask the hospital to deduct this amount from your bill and the lump sum to be paid to the hospital. Or you pay the full hospital bill and ask for the lump sum from your health insurance to be paid to you. I would recommend the first option as it means less administrative effort for you.
Subsidy for Child Birth Expenses
The expenses for childbirth and hospital costs may well exceed the childbirth lump sum mentioned above. Therefore, your ward might subsidize childbirth expenses further.
In Minato Ku, this amount is 310,000 JPY in 2021. It was only 180,000JPY in 2019. The increase is great as it really helps to cover the costs.
To receive the amount you have to hand in an application form, proof of payment for the childbirth and hospital stay expenses, the mother’s health insurance card and proof that you received the childbirth lump-son.
Maternity Leave Allowance
This might also be referred to as Child Birth Allowance.
If you have worked in the 12 months prior to giving birth, you are eligible to receive the maternity allowance. It is provided by the health insurance in which you are enrolled via your company. The allowance is 2/3 of your average salary over the past 12 months.
The allowance is paid for 6 weeks prior and 8 weeks after giving births. If the birth date is different to the due date, the payment period will be adjusted accordingly.
Child Care Leave Allowance
Maternity Leave covers 8 weeks after giving birth. If you want to take further time off work after that you are taking child care leave.
Child Care Leave Benefits are provided by Hello Work or the employment insurance. To apply for this benefit you must have been enrolled in an employment insurance and worked a certain amount of time over the past year.
Child Allowance
Child Allowance is a benefit paid to parents raising children in Japan. Parents with children younger than 15 years are eligible for the Child Allowance.
You have to apply for the child allowance via your ward office. A period of 3 months residency is required to become eligible for this benefit. The ward office periodically checks on the status of your family’s residency, usually in June. They send a simple questionnaire that you have to confirm and return via mail.
The child allowance benefit depends on the child’s age and your income level. The minimum is 5,000JPY per child. The maximum is 15,000JPY. It is paid out once every four months.
Subsidies for Medical Expenses for Children
The expenses for medical treatment for your children is subsidized. You pay 20% of the expenses until your child turns 6 years old if you are enrolled in a health insurance. Depending on your ward the expenses might be subsidized further.
In Minato Ku, medical expenses are subsidized 100% until the child is 15 years old as long as the treatments and medicines are covered by the Japanese public medical insurance program.
This is really a benefit you do not want to miss. You have to apply for it at your ward office.
You receive a ‘Child Medical Certificate’ when your application is approved. It is an A5 sized card that is renewed automatically every year and sent to your home. You have to show this at the clinic or hospital together with the health insurance card so that the fees are waived. In case you receive a prescription for medicines make sure to have shown the certificate and health insurance card at the clinic and show it again at the pharmacy. If you don’t, you have to pay. It is possible to get reimbursed by returning to the clinic and pharmacy with the right documents within the on-going month.
How not to miss out any financial benefit?
First of all, after you have found out you are pregnant go to your ward office and inform them about it. There, you will get a complete guidebook regarding all the benefits you can receive via the ward. It includes the ‘coupons’ for the pregnancy check ups and the application forms for the other benefits. The article picture at the top shows a part of the forms I had received. Make sure to read all the information given from the ward office well in advance of giving birth. Organize and prepare them for submission to spare yourself as much administrative tasks once the baby is there.
Secondly, check the maternity and child care leave as well as the child birth lump sum application procedures with your employer. Read my experience of how to apply for maternity leave in Japan.
