児童手当拡充、保育充実も　一般会計４兆円超要求―こども家庭庁

　こども家庭庁は２７日、２０２５年度予算概算要求を公表した。一般会計総額は前年度比１．８％増の４兆２１８９億円。少子化対策として、児童手当の拡充や、親の働き方を問わず保育所を利用できる「こども誰でも通園制度」の本格導入に取り組む。
　政府は昨年、２４年度からの３年間で少子化対策に集中的に取り組む「加速化プラン」を策定。同プランの目玉事業として、児童手当は２４年１０月分から所得制限を撤廃し、高校生まで支給対象を延長する。ただ、２５年度分については、現時点で要求額を明示しない「事項要求」とし、年末までに具体額を詰める。（2024/08/27-12:03）

Japan's Children and Families Agency said Tuesday that its general-account budget request for fiscal 2025 totals 4,218.9 billion yen, up 1.8 pct from the previous year, to finance measures aimed at raising the country's birthrate, including boosting child allowances.
   Starting in October this year, the country will remove the income cap for child allowances. In addition, the eligibility for the benefits will expand to include people with children in high school.
   The expansion of the child allowance program is part of the government's plan, rolled out last year, to intensively implement child-rearing support measures for the three years starting in April this year.
   The plan also includes introducing day care services available for all infants, regardless of their parents' employment status. The agency seeks a budget outlay of some 23 billion yen for the measure for fiscal 2025.
   The agency's budget requests also involve measures aimed at improving nursery working conditions, reducing high school education fees, providing marriage support in cooperation with private companies and deploying truancy support staff to local authorities.