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Outline the 1999 Survey

February 26, 2003

Purpose of Survey

The National Survey of Family Income and Expenditure aims at conducting a comprehensive survey of family income and expenditure, savings, liabilities, durable consumer goods, housing and residential land assets and other family assets to understand the level, structure and distribution of consumption, income and assets of all households and households of each region. The survey has been conducted once every five years since 1959, and the current survey is the 9th survey.

Characteristics of Current Survey

In order to obtain detailed results not available in the Family Income and Expenditure Survey and the Income and Expenditure Survey for One-person Households, a certain number of households are surveyed to examine the actual status of household budget from various angles, such as by yearly income group, age group of the household head and other household attributes or by district and prefecture.
The current survey clarifies the effects that housing and residential land assets have on the consumption behavior of households holding such assets as well as clarifying differences in consumption behavior stemming from the diversification of family structure, including the place where old persons and their families live. In doing so, the survey conducts an in-depth investigation of the family budget of old-age households which are increasing. Furthermore, the survey examines the disparity in the living standard of households by means of not only the average but also the distribution of income.

Period of Survey

The survey was conducted over a three-month period from September through November 1999.
However, the survey of one-person households was conducted in October and November, and the Private Income Survey was carried out over one month in either September, October or November.

Scope of Survey

(1)Region of Survey

A certain number of survey districts were selected from the 1995 Population Census enumeration districts in all cities and 471 towns and villages.
However, the Private Income Survey used the 168 municipalities of the Family Income and Expenditure Survey.

(2)Coverage of Survey

The survey covered two-or-more-person households and one-person households in the survey districts.
As sample households, a total of 54,792 two-or-more-person households and 5,002 one-person households were selected.
Meanwhile the Private Income Survey covered households selected from two-or-more-person households in municipalities covered by the Family Income and Expenditure Survey. (A total of 673 households was selected.)

Survey Items and Date of Survey

Method and Flow of Survey

The enumerator distributed the questionnaire to and collected it from each household and asked each household questions. The survey was conducted through the following channel.
Director-General of Management and Coordination Agency - prefectural governor - mayor and village chief - supervisor - enumerator - household surveyed

Tabulated Results

The following items were tabulated by all of Japan, district, prefecture, municipality and major metropolitan area.

(1)Income and expenditure for each item

(2)Expenditure for each commodity

(3)Place of purchase and type of purchase for each item

(4)Items concerning income and expenditure of pocket money

(5)Items concerning major durable goods

(6)Items concerning yearly income

(7)Items concerning outstanding savings and outstanding loans

(8)Items concerning houses and residential land

(9)Items concerning distribution of households by various household attributes

Publication of Results

The preliminary results are released as following schedule.

The survey results are compiled as a report in a total of 7 volumes and 9 books: "Income and Expenditure", "Expenditure on Commodities" (2 books), "Major Durable Goods, Savings and Liabilities", "Distribution of Households", "Specific Households", "Households with Aged Persons", and "Reference Material" (2 books).

Utilization of Results

(1)Planning of various measures to be implemented by the state and local governments regarding national life

-Basic data for analyses in People's Life White Paper (Cabinet Office), Labour White Paper (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare), etc.

-Data for grasping the actual condition of family budget of old persons in studying the future of pensions, medical care and other social security schemes and their level

-Basic data for grasping the condition of family budget of mother-and-child households in implementing welfare initiatives

(2)Estimation of national income and national accounts, macro-estimation of family assets, measurement of regional disparity in living expenses, and preparation of consumer price regional disparity index

(3)Research concerning family income, consumption, savings and assets by universities and research institutes

(4)Marketing research of products and services by corporations

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