80% Of Japanese Houseolds Cut Spending Due To Higher Prices

Inflation is hitting household budgets across Japan hard, with 80% of respondents to a recent survey saying they were cutting back on spending, Tomohiro Tsujimoto reported for Mainichi Japan.

Photo Insert: "Food expenses" were chosen by 58.6% of respondents as the area most heavily affected.

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. conducted an online survey between Oct. 5 and 7, and obtained responses from 5,005 people across Japan aged in their 20s to 60s. On rising commodity prices, 87.6% of respondents said they "had an impact" or "a little impact" on family finances.

"Food expenses" were chosen by 58.6% of respondents as the area most heavily affected, followed by "utility bills" (25.9%) and "gasoline" (8.1%).

Eighty-eight percent of all respondents said their living costs had grown, showing that rising prices have been weighing heavily on household budgets.

The survey also revealed a drastic rise in people leaning toward economizing, with 79.2% answering that they were slashing expenses to get by. The main areas where people spent less were "food," chosen by 42.6%, followed by "travel and leisure" at 36.3%.

Men in particular spent less on their hobbies, with 22.3% of male respondents saying so, while 21.2% said they have been shrinking their pocket money. As for women, 32.9% said they spent less on clothing, while 28.3% trimmed cosmetics and other beauty-related expenses.

Children have also been greatly affected, with 16% of families with kids taking after-school lessons saying they'd pulled them out to save money. In addition, 22.1% of the families said they had curtailed spending for the lessons.

The average monthly cost of lessons is 25,700 yen (about $180). Sumitomo Life Insurance observed that "rising prices have caused a wide range of repercussions for households."

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