The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a Paris-based forum of 38 wealthy countries, ranked Japan one of the worst performers on child poverty despite its wealth. The statistics bear this out: poverty is rising in Japan, but the welfare rolls are shrinking. Applications have climbed five years running, yet only about 22.6% of eligible people actually receive benefits, versus 91.6% in France. Japan stigmatizes poverty. It regards it not as a social ill to be addressed but as a national embarrassment to be swept under the rug.