As the global recession grows, some single mothers in Japan are turning to hooking to make ends meet.

Shukan Asahi investigative reporter Daisuke Suzuki detailed one such mother in a recent story. Facing shrinking government welfare benefits, the woman Suzuki calls Ruriko Kumata turned to prostitution to support herself and her child.

Suzuki came into contact with Kumata while going through a website dedicated to connecting prostitutes and johns on a tip that many of the postings were from single moms in their 30s and 40s.

He’s interviewed 15 other women in Kumata’s situation.

“Honestly, I’m better off dead,” says Ruriko. “That’s what I think whenever the child comes home and I serve bread crusts I get at a pet store and gruel from dumplings I buy at the 100-yen shop.”

Single mothers, squeezed by recession, turning to prostitution as last resort

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