While stock prices in Tokyo have risen to their highest level in more than three decades, the majority of Japanese are pessimistic about the economy and their living conditions, according to a survey by Asahi Shimbun.
When asked how the domestic economy will fare this year, a total of 55 percent of respondents said it will get worse, compared to a total of 40 percent who said it will improve.
The nationwide telephone survey conducted Jan. 20-21 asked respondents to choose from four options.
Specifically, 40 percent said the economy will get “slightly worse,” and 15 percent said it will get “significantly worse.”
In contrast, 38 percent said the economy would “improve slightly” and 2 percent said it would “improve significantly.”
Younger people seem to be more pessimistic about the economic situation.
Only 24 percent of respondents ages 18 to 29 expect the economy to improve slightly or significantly, the lowest of all age groups.
In contrast, 76 percent in this age group chose “mild deterioration” or “significant deterioration.”
Respondents in their 60s were almost evenly split on the economy.
A total of 51 percent chose “slight improvement” or “significant improvement,” the highest across all age groups, while a total of 45 percent chose “slight deterioration” or “significant deterioration.”
A total of 60 percent of all respondents said they expect their living conditions to worsen this year, while a total of 33 percent said their everyday lives will improve.
Specifically, 47 percent said their living conditions would “deteriorate slightly” and 13 percent said they would “deteriorate significantly,” while 31 percent chose “slightly improve” and 2 percent chose “significantly improve.”
According to the survey, those in their 30s and 40s, the age groups considered the most productive, are more optimistic about their living conditions than others.
Overall, 45 percent of 30-year-olds said they expected a better future, compared to 50 percent who said they expected things to be worse. Overall, 39 percent of those over 40 said they expect a better future, compared to 57 percent who said otherwise.
Of respondents ages 18 to 29, 33 percent said they expected a better future and 62 percent said they expected things to be worse.
Of those over 70, only 26 percent said they expected a better future, and 63 percent said otherwise.
The survey was conducted by calling randomly generated phone numbers. There were 456 valid responses from voters contacted on landline phones, or 48 percent of the total, and 723 responses from voters contacted on cell phones, or 41 percent.
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