University of Tokyo

Abstract
Survey Number 0580
Survey Title RENGO Questionnaire Survey on Life Styles, 2006
Depositor Japanese Trade Union Confederation
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Educational Purpose Available for both research and instructional purposes.
Period of Data Use Permission One year
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Nesstar Not available
Summary The Japanese Trade Union Confederation (RENGO)’s “Questionnaire Survey on Life Styles” has been conducted every other year since 1988, when RENGO was known as the Japanese Private Sector Trade Union Confederation (JTUC-RENGO). The survey provides the basic information that are essential for determining the direction and developing demands for the Spring Struggle for a Better Life. Given the increased diversity among the interests and needs of union members in recent years, RENGO conducts the survey to accurately capture members’ candid opinions on the realities/feelings concerning their lives and workplaces. This survey was conducted to gain information about the realities and feelings concerning members’ lives and workplaces to move forward with RENGO’s 2007 Spring Struggle for a Better Life.

The survey items include the current state of members’ “comfort, abundance, social fairness” and the reasons that they do not feel those, if that is the case, members’ day-to-day time use, their attitudes to harmony between work and life, as well as the directions their style of living is taking, while considering the continuity of the survey up to the previous survey. It strives to create materials that will be useful in deepening the appreciation of people’s struggle to improve lives.

This survey revises the previous method and was conducted by distribution to enterprise-based union members through affiliates.
Data Type quantitative research
quantitative research: micro data
Universe Members of affiliates
Unit of Observation Individual
Sample Size Number of questionnaires distributed: 32,000 people, valid responses: 22,098 people (valid response rate: 69.1%)
Date of Collection 2006-06 ~ 2006-09
Time Period 2006 ~ 2006
Spatial Unit Japan
Japan
Sampling Procedure Non-probability: Quota
The number of survey subjects is allocated to affiliates according to the number of their members. When distributing to enterprise-based unions, a request was made to take the unions’ sizes and members’ gender, age, etc. into consideration.
Mode of Data Collection Self-administered questionnaire: Paper
Distributed to enterprise-based union members through affiliates.
Investigator Japanese Trade Union Confederation (RENGO)
DOI 10.34500/SSJDA.0580
Sponsors (Funds)
Related Publications (by the Investigator) Please refer to the abstract in Japanese.
Related Publications (based on Secondary Analysis) List of related publications (based on Secondary Analysis)
Documentation [Questionnaire]
Major Survey Items Face items:
<Overview of workplace> Industry of company/workplace where respondent works, number of employees, increase and decrease in the numbers of regular/non-regular employees at the workplace
<Personal attributes> Gender, age, years of employment, highest level of educational attainment, mode of hiring, occupation type, mode of work, household structure, number of household members, number of children, development stages of oldest and youngest children, presence of family members requiring long-term care reside in the same household, household income sources, area of residence (regional division and prefecture), type of housing, whether or not respondent has been a union officer


Questionnaire items:
(1) Income/expenditure/assets, etc.
<Respondent’s wages, etc.> Total annual wages, level of satisfaction with current total annual wages, total wages for June this year/wages not including overtime/comparison of wages not including overtime with previous year, total taxes and social insurance premiums for June and comparison with previous year
<Household income, etc.> Total household annual income/comparison with previous year, comparison of household consumption expenditure with previous year, state of household income and expenditure
<Household savings/borrowings> Amount of household savings/comparison with previous year, amount of household borrowings/comparison with previous year

(2) Life at workplace
<Situation of an average working day> Wake-up time, time respondent leaves home, time respondent arrives at work, time respondent leaves work, time respondent comes home, bedtime
<Working time and management of it, etc.> Presence of time management, applicable working time system, hours of overtime work in June this year/comparison with the previous year, reasons for doing overtime work, wage payments for overtime work (number of hours that overtime allowance was paid in June this year, method of determining payable work hours)
<Actual situation of unpaid overtime> Whether or not respondent performs unpaid overtime/state of unpaid overtime work compared to two or three years ago
<Designated holidays> Number of designated holidays and number of holidays worked in June this year
<Paid annual leave> Number of days newly granted/taken in the previous fiscal year, reasons for taking paid leave
<Other> Respondent’s current total working hours, concerns about workplace (9 items), whether or not respondent takes work home to complete it, whether or not respondent goes to a learning institution or studies at home by themselves to improve career prospects

(3) Health
Whether or not respondent feels mental stress at work, reasons for feeling stress at work, receiving a health checkup, whether respondent feels fatigued

(4) Life concerns
Degree of concerns about respondent’s own and family’s life, details of concerns about life

(5) Public pension and lifestyle after 60 years of age
Whether respondent has planned for life after 60 years of age, essential living expenses in 60s (monthly total of essential cost of living, housing-related costs and educational expenses for children), lifestyle prospects after 60 years of age (prospects of sufficient coverage with public pension alone, prospects of sufficient coverage with public pension and private pension/savings)

(6) Thoughts on how to live/work
Wages and working hours, views on occupation, management style, cooperative relationships between men and women, preparations for the future and current lifestyle, how social security should be, income redistribution functions, work-life balance (current state, desires), level of satisfaction with current lifestyle

(7) Home life and child-rearing
Whether society today is an environment that makes it easy to have children
<Married respondents only> Spouse’s work status, situation of spouse’s working days (time leaving home, time coming home), number of times eating dinner with family
<Respondents with spouse and child(ren) only> Communication with children (whether respondent talks to children often, reasons for not talking to children much), person who mainly cares for and disciplines/educates children, person respondent relies on for help with childrearing, sense of burden from childrearing (economic/ time/physical/mental burdens), balance between childrearing and work, childcare support systems at workplace, support systems respondent wishes to use
Date of Release 2008/07/14
Topics in CESSDA Click here for details

Occupational health
Labour relations/conflict
Working conditions
Social conditions and indicators
Time use
Topics in SSJDA Employment/Labor
Society/Culture
Version 1 : 2008-07-14
Notes for Users