Struggling to receive childcare leave pay – is this normal?

Hi everyone, hoping someone here has experienced something similar or can give some advice.

My daughter is now 10 months old. My wife, who holds an engineering visa, took childcare leave, during which she was supposed to receive 100% of her salary for the first year—this is according to Japanese law and the government subsidy program.

However, things haven’t been straightforward at all:
• For the first 6 months of her leave, she received no payment.
• At month 7, she finally received about one month’s worth of salary, but since then (months 8–10), again nothing.
• Despite not receiving full payments, the city office regularly sends residential tax bills calculated based on her full salary, as though she’d been paid normally.

We’ve reached out multiple times:
• The insurance office seems unable or unwilling to clarify exactly what’s happening.
• Her company’s HR also avoids directly answering when exactly she will get paid.

Additionally, we’ve encountered several unexpected taxes and expenses (around ¥90,000–100,000) which make it feel like whatever little amount she’s getting is immediately offset by these bills.

Is this experience common? How straightforward should it be to actually get the government-subsidized salary during childcare leave? I’d appreciate any insights, advice, or experiences you might have.

Thanks a lot!