When the white gloves and over-amplified speeches come out for the general-election campaigns this fall, one widely shared anxiety should not be ignored — the worsening financial condition of households. Over 57 percent of households, the highest ever, reported struggling with finances, according to an annual survey by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry released in early September.
This percentage has steadily risen over the past six years, but reflects more than just anxiety. It accompanies a rise in the number of below-average-income households to 61 percent. The myth that all Japanese households are middle class is quickly fading. Even while Japan's family structure changes, economic conditions have clearly gotten worse for the majority of people, with the middle no longer the biggest segment of Japanese society.
Even though average income per household rose slightly, given the bump by the increased number of elderly retired households, the percentage of below-average-income households now matches the lowest levels of the global economic crisis in 1999. The percentages of struggling and below-average households are likely to worsen in the next year. When 24 percent of Japanese say they are in an extremely bad way and 33 percent say they are somewhat pinched, Japan has serious concerns.