Japan's Family Life Seen in Household Account Books
A close look at household accounts provides a picture of how people live and demonstrates how changes in consumption patterns reflect not only their lifestyles but also socio-economic changes in society as a whole.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' Family Income and Expenditure Survey is a national statistical survey which has been carried out since 1946 as an essential source for determining economic trends. The survey asks households to keep a daily record of their accounts so as to throw light on their everyday lives. Some of the findings of this year´s survey which feature characteristics of recent consumption patterns are highlighted below.
The Engel's coefficient - the proportion of expenditure on food to expenditure as a whole - was 38.1 percent in 1965, remained low as the standard of living improved, dropped below 30 percent in 1979, and marked 23.1 percent in 2006. The proportion of expenditure on information and communication, culture and education, and recreation, which was 7.7 percent in 1965, almost doubled, to 14.11 percent in 2006. In fact, the mobile business market will reportedly become a one-trillion yen market by the end of this year.
As a noticeable sign of change in consumption patterns, the survey cites food-related items: in 2006 expenditure on cooked foods and dining out had increased 2.3 times and 1.8 times, respectively, since 1965. While expenditure on dining out has been declining since 1992, expenditure on cooked foods has continued to increase. During these years, it became rarer for people to eat meals as a family, and the time spent on cooking and eating meals shortened. Regarding the index of real annual expenses on utilities, electricity expenses showed an increasing trend and in 2006 it increased to 6.7 times the 1965 level. Domestic electrification has improved significantly, with a resulting increase in the consumption of electricity, while questions on measures to prevent the halt of electricity supply due to, for example, a great epicentral earthquake in urban areas, have remained unsolved.
As for household expenditure, the proportion of earned income and other direct taxes to real income was 7.1 percent in 2006, 1.4 times as much as in 1965, when the figure was 5.0 percent. The proportion of expenditure on social insurance premiums such as public pensions and health insurance to real income was 8.9 percent in 2006, 2.7 times as much as in 1965 when the figure was 3.3 percent. Expenditure on insurance premiums will undoubtedly increase since the birthrate is declining and the society is ageing: the financial situation of the Japanese people is not bright even at the present time when the economy is said to be buoyant.
