What people in their 20s and 30s are doing with their summer bonuses

Are you receiving a summer bonus this year?

If so, you might be facing the same question as many workers across Japan, and that's whether to save it, invest it, or finally spend it on something you've been putting off.

A new survey of full-time employees in their 20s and 30s found that hobbies have overtaken savings as the most popular use of summer bonuses for the first time. More than half of respondents (52.3%) said they planned to spend their bonus on hobbies, compared to 47.7% who planned to put the money into savings. Travel and leisure also ranked highly at 29.5%.

For the community here on City-Cost, the results may feel a little familiar. After several years of inflation, rising living costs, and economic uncertainty, I think that many people are prioritizing experiences and personal enjoyment rather than simply building their savings accounts.

When asked why they were spending bonus money on hobbies, travel, or self-improvement, the most common answers were stress relief and rewarding themselves for their hard work. Together, those responses accounted for more than half of all answers.