Life hasn’t been easy for the Japanese “salaryman” over the past 15 years or so.
- Bloomberg News
- Office workers eat bento lunchboxes in Tokyo.
Amid a deflationary economy of falling prices and wages, the male salaried workers–who make up the bulk of the country’s workforce–have struggled to make ends meet, cutting back on the little work-related luxuries, like lunches with colleagues and beers after work.
While the aggressive policies of Prime Minster Shinzo Abe, known as “Abenomics,” may have lifted business sentiment to its highest level in recent years, for most salarymen, things have changed little, if not worsened. A recent survey of their spending patterns showed that their monthly “pocket money” had fallen to its lowest level in 30 years.
Often seen as the standard-bearer of Japan’s diligent company workers, the average salaryman spent ¥38,457, or around $380 a month of pocket money, including lunches, according to the latest poll by Shinsei Bank 8303.TO -1.28%. That’s down ¥1,299 from last year, and the second lowest after ¥34,100 in the 1982 survey.
Other findings in the poll of 1,000 male workers in their 20s to 50s conducted in April, indicated things may finally be turning a corner, albeit slowly. The amount they spent on lunches inched up ¥8, but at ¥518 still suggests many are surviving on “one-coin” lunches–those that can be purchased for a single ¥500 coin.
As for after-work drinks, the survey, which was released last week, showed that the salaryman was spending ¥614 more on each outing, but going out less frequently–an average of 2.2 times a month, down 0.2 from last year.
Shinsei Bank said higher electricity bills in the last business year through the end of March, along with a sales tax planned for April next year, were keeping workers from spending.
“The results show that, while Abenomics may have improved business conditions of some firms and led to a rise in stock prices, it has not benefited the salarymen,” the report said. The key to get them to spend more is to raise their wages, it added–something the prime minister has also said will be a key measure of the success of his policies.
“If the households’ burden is lessened and concerns over the future are alleviated by an increase in revenue, then it would lead to more pocket-money spending and ultimately to stable recovery in consumption,” it said.
