
2004 National Survey of Family Income and Expenditures Definitions of Terms
Go to Coverage and Details of Major Durable Goods
Go to Coverage and Details of Savings and Liabilities
1. Number of Tabulated Households, Distribution of Households (Based on the Adjusted Sampling Ratio) and 1/10000 Ratio
Number of tabulated households refers to the total number of households actually used in the survey. Distribution of households (based on the adjusted sampling ratio) refers to the number of ouseholds obtained by multiplying the number of households by the adjusting coefficients which are proportionate to the inverse number of sampling ratios to obtain unbiased estimates. The sampling ratios differ from one city, town and village to another.
Distribution of households (ten-thousandth) shows the distribution of households (based on the adjusting sampling ratio) where the number of households is assumed to equal to 10,000.
2. Division of Households

3. Receipts and Disbursements
"Receipts" are classified into three major categories: "income" such as wages & salaries and income through business & homework, "receipts other than income" including returns from assets and monthly installments and "carry-over from the previous month".
"Disbursements" are divided into four categories: "living expenditures" which is, what is called, living cost, "non-living expenditures" such as taxes and social insurance (the summation of "living expenditures" and "non-living expenditures" is called "expenditures"), "disbursements other than expenditures" including deposits & savings and debt payments and "carry-over to the next month".
4. Disposable Income
Disposable income is the amount remaining after deductions from income for non-living expenditures such as taxes and social insurance premiums, or what is known as cash on hand.
5. Average Propensity to Consume
This refers to the ratio of living expenditures to disposable income.
6. Ratio of Net Increase of Current Assets to Disposable Income
This refers to the ratio of net increase of current assets ((Savings - Saving deposits cashed) + (Insurance premium payments - Insurance proceeds) + (Security purchases - Securities sold)) to disposable income.
7. Surplus
This refers to the ratio of surplus (difference between income and expenditures or between disposable income and living expenditures) to disposable income.
8. Ratio of Savings to Disposable Income
This refers to the ratio of net increase of savings ((Savings - Saving deposits cashed) + (Insurance premium payments - Insurance proceeds)) to disposable income
9. Classification according to Use and Commodities
Two systems are used to sort consumer expenditure: use and commodities.
The methodology for commodities categorizes articles according to the kind of commodities purchased irrespective of their use, while usage is broadly divided according to whether products are used within the household or are to be used for someone outside the family, with the portion used in the household sorted by commodity and the portion used outside the household classified as an "social expenses" if used as a gift or for entertaining someone. All other types are grouped along with items used within the household.
10. Transferred Income and Transferred Expenditure
Transferred income is what gifts and remittance are regrouped. Transferred expenditures are what money gifts and remittance are regrouped.
11. Expenses for Education
Not only "education" but also expenditures needed directly or indirectly for education such as school lunch, school uniforms, student's season tickets, etc. are regrouped.
12. Expenses for Reading and Recreation
This group is regrouped in order to clarify the structural changes in expenditures relating to leisure.
13. Current Living Expenditures
Current living expenditures conceptually corresponds to daily expenditures excluding the items of expensive and less-frequently purchase (the purchase of automobiles or electrical appliances) in order to narrow the gap between regions with small sample size.
14. Classification by Goods and Services
In this classification, expenditures are divided into "Goods" and "Services". The following expenses are excluded from this classification: "pocket money", "money gifts", "other social expenses" and "remittance".
15. Amounts of Savings and Liabilities
Refer to the "Coverage and Details of Savings and Liabilities." The amounts of savings and liabilities of "Income and Expenditures" are obtained from the results based on "Yearly Income and Savings Questionnaire." The resulting figures are not necessarily equal to those of "Amounts of Savings and Liabilities," since the latter included in its tabulation all the households which submitted the acceptable "Yearly Income and Savings Questionnaire," while the former excluded from its tabulation the households which did not submit "Family Account Book."
16. Number of Durable Goods Owned
This indicates the number of major durable goods owned per 1,000 households. For the purpose of convenience, all figures show the number of units of durable goods owned.
17. Ownership of Durable Goods
This shows the percentage of the households that own the relevant durable goods.
18. Number of Durable Goods by Year of Acquisition
This shows the number of durable goods currently owned with the time of acquisition classified into "in the past 12 months," "in the past 1 - 5 years" and "in the past period exceeding 5 years."
19. Imputed Rent for Owned Houses
The term "imputed rent for owned houses" refers to the rent for privately owned houses that would accrue as the rent paid from a tenant to its landlord. In this case, it is obtained by assuming that the rent is paid for the same service that is received by homeowner households through living in their house.
20. Types of Places for Purchasing
The type of places for purchasing has been surveyed based on the types of places for purchasing indicated in the housekeeping account books for various items purchased by the households in a period of one month in November 2004. Note that this survey does not include expenses on such services as eating out and rent and utilities such as electricity, gas and tap water. The classification criteria for types of places for purchasing are as shown below:
Type of Places for Purchasing |
Classification criteria |
Retail store: |
Ordinary retails stores (including family-operated stores), excluding supermarkets, convenience stores, department stores, cooperative stores and discount stores / mass sales speciality stores. |
Supermarket: |
Retailers that have a store floor area of 100 square meters or more, selling various items centering on foods and household miscellaneous items with a self-service style in the store area that exceeds 50% of the total area. |
Convenience store: |
Small-sized retailers that are open 24 hours a day or for longer hours selling foods and various articles of daily use including household miscellaneous items and magazines, with a self-service style in the store area that exceeds 50% of the total area. |
Department store: |
Stores with 50 or more regular employees, which sell various kinds of commodities. |
Cooperative store: |
Stores managed by a group of citizens for their own benefit. Also included here are stores managed by companies or government agencies for the benefit of their employees. |
Discount store, mass sales speciality stores: |
Stores that sell commodities with discount prices. Included are mass selling stores which deal with electric appliances, men's clothes, etc., drugstores that mainly sell medicines and cosmetics and retailers that sell various commodities at a uniform price. |
Mail-order selling (Internet): |
Retailers that receive orders on the Internet and deliver the goods to the customer. |
Mail-order selling (others): |
Commodities are advertised in newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, catalogues, internet and so forth, and sent to consumers who order them by mail, telephone, internet, etc. |
Others: |
Stores other than those mentioned above: for instance, wholesale stores, stands in stations or theaters, street stalls, peddles, resale shops, etc. Vending machines are included here. |
21. Rate of Increase/Decrease
When no particular year is given, this applies to the rate of increase or decline during the five-year period from 1999 to 2004.
22. Income Decile Groups, Income Quintile Groups
Income decile groups refer to 10 groups of equal size, in order from the lowest annual household income to the highest, with the order proceeding "I, II, III" from the lowest income to "X" for the top. Income quintile groups, on the other hand, pair annual income deciles, I and II, III and IV and so on in single groups in order, I, II, III, up to V, starting with the lowest income segment.
23. Specific Households
The specific households which are tabulated in this survey are as follows.
(1)Dual-income households - households which are classified as workers' households and whose head and his (or her) spouse have their own jobs. However, the households with income from agriculture, forestry or fisheries are excluded.
(2)Household head not working - household whose head has no occupation.
(3)Households of mother and children - households with mother and children of less than 18 years of age.
(4)Households repaying housing loans; households having no housing loans - households possessing loans of more than 10,000 yen for purchasing houses and/or land as of November 30, 2004 in any houses and those not possessing loans in owned houses.
(5)Households living in rented houses and rooms
(6)A married couple and unmarried children, of which household head is the sole earner - households which are classified as workers' households, and consist of a married couple and one or more children and with head as the only one earner.
(7)Married couple only or married couple and unmarried children - households consist of married couple only or married couple and unmarried children only, of which household head is husband or wife
(8)Other specific households - "households with members of not working and seeking work", "households with university or college students", "households owning cars", "households with members of official certification for nursing care needs" and "households with members away from home".
24. Household Assets Included in Evaluation
Household assets that are included in evaluation are: Financial assets (current amount of savings - current amount of liabilities), house & residential land and major durable goods. Refer to the "Evaluation method of household real assets" for the method of converting real assets to the value of financial assets.
25. Financial Assets
Refer to the "Coverage and Details of Savings and Liabilities."
26. Real Assets
(i)House
a. |
Households having their own houses |
: |
Owned houses for the households (the present residence and other than the present residence) |
b. |
Households renting houses and rooms |
: |
Owned houses for the households other than the present residence |
(ii)Residential land
a. |
Households having their own houses |
: |
Owned residential land for the households (the present residence (including rented land) and other than the present residence) |
b. |
House holds renting houses and rooms |
: |
Owned residential land for the housholds other than the present residence |
Note: Residential land means the residential land recorded in the register and owned land to construct houses.
(iii)Durable goods
Refer to the "Coverage and Details of Major Durable Goods." In principle, the goods whose purchases price is 10,000 yen and over and durable year is 5 years and longer.
27. Classification of Geographical Area
1.City Group
Cities are grouped according to the 2000 Population Census results. |
Major cities: |
Government-designated cities (Sapporo-shi, Sendai-shi, Saitama-shi, Chiba-shi, Yokohama-shi, Kawasaki-shi, Nagoya-shi, Kyoto-shi, Osaka-shi, Kobe-shi, Hiroshima-shi, Kitakyushu-shi and Fukuoka-shi) and Ku-area of Tokyo. |
Middle cities: |
Cities with 150,000 or more inhabitants but less than one million (excluding major cities). |
Small cities A: |
Cities with 50,000 or more inhabitants but less than 150,000. |
Small cities B: |
Cities with less than 50,000 inhabitants. |
Towns and villages. |
|
2.Districts
Hokkaido district: |
Hokkaido. |
Tohoku district: |
Aomori-ken, Iwate-ken, Miyagi-ken, Akita-ken, Yamagata-ken and Fukushima-ken. |
Kanto district: |
Ibaraki-ken, Tochigi-ken, Gunma-ken, Saitama-ken, Chiba-ken, Tokyo-to, Kanagawa-ken, Yamanashi-ken and Nagano-ken. |
Hokuriku district: |
Niigata-ken, Toyama-ken, Ishikawa-ken and Fukui-ken. |
Tokai district: |
Gifu-ken, Shizuoka-ken, Aichi-ken and Mie-ken. |
Kinki district: |
Shiga-ken, Kyoto-fu, Osaka-fu, Hyogo-ken, Nara-ken and Wakayama-ken. |
Chugoku district: |
Tottori-ken, Shimane-ken, Okayama-ken, Hiroshima-ken and Yamaguchi-ken. |
Shikoku district: |
Tokushima-ken, Kagawa-ken, Ehime-ken and Kochi-ken. |
Kyushu district: |
Fukuoka-ken, Saga-ken, Nagasaki-ken, Kumamoto-ken, Oita-ken, Miyazaki-ken and Kagoshima-ken. |
Okinawa district: |
Okinawa-ken. |
Coverage and Details of Savings and Liabilities
1. Coverage and Details of Savings and Liabilities Covered by the Survey
- Total amount of savings is the sum of deposits to post offices, banks and other financial institutions; premiums for life insurance and damage insurance; securities including stocks and shares, bonds, trusts, etc.; deposits at non-financial institutions such as companies.
- As for savings, in the case of life insurance and damage insurance, the amount of savings denotes the accumulated total of the premiums paid since the insurance became effective, while in the case of stocks and shares, it is a value of market price. In the case of bonds, loan trust and money in trust, it is a face value. Damage insurance was included in the savings from the 1989 survey, and gold investment account and gold saving account from the 1994 survey.
- Total amount of liabilities is the sum of the money borrowed not only from financial institutions such as post offices, banks, life insurance companies, Housing Loan Corporation, etc., but also from the companies persons work for, employment's mutual associations, relatives and acquaintances, outstanding balance of monthly or yearly installments, etc.
Included in savings and liabilities |
Excluded from savings and liabilities |
- |
Those kept by household head and household members |
- |
Those used for individual business purpose |
|
- |
Those kept by persons sharing living expenses and live-in employees |
- |
Cash stored at home |
- |
Money lent to acquaintances, etc. |
|
2. Details and Remarks of Savings and Liabilities
Items |
Details and remarks |
Savings |
Demand deposits (Fluid-type) |
Post offices |
- |
Savings to be deposited or drawn easily. |
|
Banks etc. |
- |
Savings to be deposited or drawn easily without restrictions on terms. |
- |
Included are ordinary deposits, current deposits, deposits at notice, deposits for tax payments, etc. |
|
Time deposits (Fixed-type) |
Post offices |
- |
Deposits for a period of six months or more. |
- |
Included are fixed amount deposits, fixed period deposits, installment savings, installment savings for education, installment savings for construction or purchase of house. |
|
Banks etc. |
- |
Deposits for a period of one months or more, |
- |
Included are fixed period deposits, installment and fixed period deposits, etc. |
|
Life insurance, etc. |
Life insurance |
- |
Total premiums paid for endowment insurance, child insurance, annuity insurance, etc. managed by life insurance companies and premiums paid for child mutual aid, endowment mutual aid, etc. managed by agricultural cooperatives. |
- |
Life insurance without maturity payment is excluded. |
|
Damage insurance |
- |
Total premiums paid for long term and comprehensive insurances including fire insurance, accident insurance, etc. with maturity repayment. |
- |
Damage insurance without maturity payment is excluded. |
|
Postal insurance |
- |
Total premiums paid for endowment insurance, whole life insurance, education endowment insurance which are handled by post offices. |
|
Stocks and shares, unit and open-end trust |
- |
Stocks and investment trust at market prices as of the end of November 2004. |
|
Public and corporate bonds, open-end bond trust |
- |
Government bonds, local government bonds, public corporation bonds, financial bonds, industrial bonds, etc. |
- |
Excluded are school bonds, expropriated agricultural landowner treasury bonds. |
|
Loan trust, money in trust |
- |
Loan trust and money trust which are trusted to trust banks. |
|
Others (including deposits at company) |
- |
Refers to gold investment of fixed interest which is dealt in backs and stock companies and savings with financial institutions other than the aforementioned varieties. |
- |
Deposits at companies, employment's mutual associations, friendly societies, etc. and other non-financial institution savings and deposits. |
|
Liabilities |
Liabilities for purchase of houses and/or land |
- |
Liabilities for purchase, build or extension and rebuild of houses, and purchase of land as well as outstanding balance of purchase of houses and land by installment payment. |
|
Other liabilities |
- |
Loans for daily life, individual proprietors' funds for opening or operating their business, etc. |
|
Monthly and yearly installments |
- |
Outstanding balance of monthly and/or yearly installment. |
|
Coverage and Details of Major Durable Goods
1. Coverage of durable goods
Durable goods included |
Durable goods not included |
- |
Those owned and used for family purpose; |
- |
Those kept in villa or similar places; |
- |
Those lent to or kept by persons other than household members; |
- |
Those purchased or received at second hand; |
- |
Those homemade (homemade stereos, furniture, etc.); |
- |
Those having completed a contract of purchase but not yet received. |
|
- |
Those for business use; |
- |
Those mainly used for business purpose but partly used for family purpose; |
- |
Those borrowed or deposited; |
- |
Those not unusable due to breakdown, damages, etc.; |
- |
Those not expected in use due to outdated, used up, etc.; |
- |
Those taken away from home for a long time by students, seasonal workers, etc. away from home. |
|
2. Durable Goods in Need of Some Comments
Items |
Comments |
System kitchen |
- |
A type of kitchen set that can be freely assembled to fit the size of the room and the way in which it is used. |
- |
Sets that include three or more components, including a sink, gas range (or induction heating unit) and counter/cabinet. |
|
Water heaters (excluding instantaneous gas water heaters) |
- |
Products with a large water-heating capacity that are capable of constant storage of a certain amount of heat in the tank, and go on and off when the temperature reaches a certain level. |
- |
Regardless of the heat source (solar heat, electricity, gas, etc.). |
|
Make-up and washing stand (shampoo dresser) |
- |
Those attaching washstand, mirror box, et. And usable for hair washing. |
|
Toilet stool covers with warm water cleaners |
- |
Toilet stool cover with water cleaners and keeping warm. |
- |
Dryers and smell eliminators are attached in some cases. |
|
Refrigerators |
- |
Products consisting of a refrigeration compartment and freezer compartment |
- |
Not including those consisting of only one compartment or the other. |
|
Washing machines |
- |
Includes units with the dryer functions and drum style washing machines. |
|
DVD recorders |
- |
Units that offer DVD recording functions. |
- |
Personal computers that have DVD recording functions are included with personal computers. |
|
Plasma TVs and LCD TVs |
- |
TVs that employ plasma or liquid crystal displays, not the old-style Braun tube screens. |
- |
These are not included with color TVs. |
|
Video cameras (including digital models) |
- |
The recording method (digital, 8 mm, VHS, S-VHS) is not important. |
- |
Digital cameras with brief movie recording functions are included with cameras. |
|
Cameras (including digital camera) |
- |
Single-lens reflex, compact, APS, digital still, etc. |
- |
Disposable lens-and-film cameras are not included. |
- |
Camera-equipped cellphones are included with cellphones. |
|
Personal computers |
- |
Palm-top models are not included. |
|
Unit furniture (priced 200 thousand yen or more) |
- |
Unit furniture means the furniture with characteristics of both movable and built-in types, and size of bed, desk, shelve, etc. are unified but these are easily combined depending on use and size of a room. |
|
Beds and sofabeds (excluding built-in types) |
- |
A two-stories bed is counted as one bed |
- |
Baby beds are not included. |
|
Carpets (priced 50 thousand yen or more) |
- |
Carpets purchased for at least 50,000 yen, whether for laying on the floor or for hanging on the wall. |
|
Rice cookers ("Enseki-gama" or those with IH function) |
- |
"Enseki-gama" cooks rice by infra-red ray |
- |
IH type cooks rice by heating inner oven through magnetic ray. |
|
Stereo unit or radio with the CD/MD/cassette player |
- |
Those with record player, CD player, amplifier and speakers, and playable in stereo phonograph. |
- |
Car stereo units are not included. |
- |
Combination radio cassette recorders equipped for playing CDs; including those equipped for playing MDs instead of tapes. |
|
Facsimiles (including coping machines attached) |
- |
Machines with a facsimile transmission and reception function; |
- |
Personal computers with facsimile functions are not included. |
|
Golf club sets (including half set) |
- |
Those with drivers and irons. |
- |
Half sets are included. |
|
Cellular phones (including personal handyphone systems) |
- |
Units furnished by the company for business purposes are not included. |
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