Japanese husbands' pocket money at 30-year low
The average Japanese husband’s monthly allowance slumped to the lowest level since 1982 at the start of the country's financial year as workers await the dividends promised by Abenomics.
Salarymen’s spending money, typically set by wives managing family budgets, was 38,457 yen ($418), down 3 per cent from last year and less than half the 1990 peak, according to Shinsei Bank.
Their pocket money should gradually increase to reflect Japan’s recovery.
The survey of 2000 people was done April 20th and 22nd via the internet, the report published June 28 showed.
With Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledging to revive the world’s third-largest economy through unprecedented monetary expansion, fiscal stimulus and business deregulation, salarymen allotted more of their budget to going out drinking.
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They went out an average 2.2 times a month, spending 3474 yen a time, up 21 per cent from last year, the Shinsei report showed.
“Husband’s allowance is the most lagging indicator of Japan’s economy, while female spending is the first to increase,” said Hiroshi Miyazaki, senior economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities in Tokyo, who says his own ration has been unchanged for a while.
“Japanese salary men don’t have to be pessimistic. Their pocket money should gradually increase to reflect Japan’s recovery.”
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