Okozukai “pocket money” down among workers in Japan in 2022, survey

Monthly pocket money, or "okozukai," for workers in Japan decreased in 2022, with male workers having on average 38,642 yen to spend each month and female workers 33,278 yen, according to the results of a survey published on Monday. 

The findings of the annual employee spending survey, carried out by Shinsei Bank, Limited, showed that while the decrease in okozukai among male company employees was only down slightly, just 68 yen from 2021, female company employees saw their pocket money decrease by 1,120 yen from the previous year.  

2022 marks the first decrease in monthly okozukai among female employees in recent years, which had been on a steady increase since 2019. Pocket money has remained relatively stable among male employees over the last decade, at somewhere around 40,000 yen, according to survey data.

Among male employees the deepest pockets in 2022 belonged to those in their 30s, with average monthly okozukai of 40,149 yen. This was followed by employees in their 50s (39,523 yen), 40s (38,049 yen) and 20s (36,792 yen). 

Employees in their 20s accounted for the deepest pockets among females, with an average monthly okozukai of 37,624 yen, followed by employees in their 30s (33,597 yen), 50s (31,557 yen) and 40s (30,523 yen). 

Unmarried male employees enjoyed the largest amount of monthly pocket money in 2022 - 45,549 yen.

The survey was carried out online in April 2022, targeting company employees and part-time workers nationwide in their 20s to 50s. Samples were collected from around 2,700 respondents.  

An employee spending survey has been carried out in some form most years since 1979. To date, workers enjoyed their largest average monthly okozukai of 77,725 yen in 1990, at the height of the Bubble era. 

According to a survey on wage structures in 2021 published by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, average monthly wages for full-time workers in Japan were at 337,200 yen for men (down 0.5 percent from the previous year) and 253,600 yen for women (up 0.7 percent).

Pocket money detailed in the survey included money spent on lunch during work days. In 2022 male employees were found to have spent an average of 623 yen on their daily lunch, down 26 yen from the previous year. Lunch spending among female employees increased to 656 yen daily, up 66 yen from the previous year, according to the survey. 

Spending among Japan’s workforce continues to be influenced by work and lifestyle changes brought about by the COVID pandemic. Among survey respondents who said that the pandemic had affected their working style, telework and reduced overtime were the most common forms of change. 

These changes, among other factors related to the pandemic, are likely behind a decrease in spending on afterwork drinking among the workforce in 2022.  

Monthly spending on afterwork (alcohol) drinking among male employees decreased by 1,734 yen from 2021 to 11,495 yen in 2022, and by 1,278 yen to 8,429 yen for female employees for the same years.

One-time afterwork drinking expenses outside of the home for male employees was 5,395 yen and for females was 4,464 yen, according to the survey. Unsurprisingly, drinking at home proved to be significantly cheaper. A session of post-work drinking at home was costing males 2,817 yen, females 1,948 yen. (Editor’s note: Am I alone in finding this level of expenditure rather high for this sort of thing?)

The results of the annual employee spending survey come as prices for food and other daily necessities in Japan surge, largely down to increasing energy and raw material costs, and a weaker Japanese yen.

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