Abstract
The purpose of this study is to clarify social supports for people in debt. Two kinds of questionnaires were given to subjects in debt or bankruptcy that were in Nakusu-kai and Benkyo-kai in Okinawa. Three major causes of debt in Nakusu-kai are low income, surety/nominal transfer and failure of a business. People in Benkyo-kai worry about not only money, but also low income, insufficient education for their children, unemployment, disease and housing. 10.1% of people in Nakusu-kai could not pay for national health insurance and 34.5% could not pay for national pension. The rot cause of debts is the poverty. The process of empowerment is to recognize the status of their debt, to clarify the family's goal, to look for the resources, to attend the social network and take action. The findings include social supports for low income families are needed, such as employment, education, housing, social network, flexible adaptation on national assistance and low interest loans.
