University of Tokyo

Abstract
Survey Number 1139
Survey Title Survey on Dual-Income Couples' Household Economy and Attitudes, 2014
Depositor The Institute for Research on Household Economics
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Educational Purpose Available for both research and instructional purposes.
Period of Data Use Permission One year
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Summary This survey focuses on gaining a broad understanding of the actual situation of how married couples balance financial and attitude-related aspects of their lives. The distinctive feature of this project is that rather than broadly targeting households of married couples in general, it limits its focus to two-income families engaged in child rearing. By excluding the difference of whether or not the wife works, it was possible to shed light on similarities and differences in the group of two-income families.

In short, a comparison between two-income families in which the wife was a part-time or regular employee was conducted. It is proposed that there are large differences between the two in terms of the wife's income and awareness regarding family and work. To enable comparison with a high level of precision, this survey sampled a large number of female regular employees. Up until this point, households in which both spouses were regular employees formed the minority group, but looking to the future, they can be predicted to be of increasing relative importance in society, in terms of both numbers and economic power. What are the similarities and differences between the state of family finance, in which both partners are on a more equal footing in economic terms when compared to the family finance of the past, in which the wife worked in part-time employment and thus played a more supplementary role? By comparing the two, this study aims to provide new viewpoints for future research and surveys on family finance by investigating the state of family finance in the context of changing "household" realities.

Furthermore, to clarify the characteristics of the main survey target, the survey was also conducted on two auxiliary groups: employed females of the same age group as the target group in the main survey, who had spouses but no children, and males (aged 33–55, with an eldest child aged 18 or less) with wives in employment.
Data Type quantitative research
quantitative research: micro data
Universe ・Main survey target: Females who are employed, have spouses, and are (1) Aged 35–49, (2) Have a child living with them and an eldest child aged 18 or under, (3) Reside in the Greater Tokyo Area (Tokyo Metropolis and three surrounding prefectures)
・Auxiliary survey target: Residents of the Greater Tokyo Area:(1)Employed females of the same age group as the target group in the main survey, who have spouses but no children, and (2) Males (aged 30-55 with an eldest child aged 18 or under) with wives in employment.
Unit of Observation Individual
Sample Size 1,200 main survey targets(part-time/casual part-time (arubaito): 575, regular employees/regular staff : 476, temp staff/contract employees 144, other: 5). Auxiliary groups: (1) employed females of the same age group as the target group in the main survey, who have spouses but no children: 547 (among them, 195 regular employees), (2) males (aged 30–55 with an eldest child aged 18 or under) with wives who are employed: 546.
Date of Collection 2014-03 ~ 2014-03
Early March in 2014
Time Period 2014 ~ 2014
Spatial Unit saitama
chiba
tokyo
kanagawa
the Greater Tokyo Area (Tokyo Metropolis and three surrounding prefectures)
Sampling Procedure Non-probability: Quota
The number sampled for the main survey was distributed based on work type, with a total of 1,000 individuals broken down as follows: part-time/casual part-time (arubaito): 500; regular employees/regular staff: 400; temp staff/contract employees: 100. Oversampling was performed regarding regular employee/regular staff and temp staff/contract workers, with the target number of responses set at the upper limit of the predicted number of responses specified by the sampling company. The target number for the auxiliary groups was set at 500 for both.
Mode of Data Collection Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)
Online panel survey via the Internet
Investigator The Institute for Research on Household Economics, survey carried out by Intage Inc.
DOI 10.34500/SSJDA.1139
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 Basic items
・Gender, age
・Years of marriage, length of relationship before marriage, whether or not it was the first marriage for both partners
・Number of children, number of children residing within the same household
Married couple's way of working
・Type of work, type of employment, occupation, after-tax income for February (husband and wife, respectively)
・Average weekly number of hours of work, one-way commute time (husband and wife, respectively)
・Type of employment for first job (husband and wife, respectively)
・Type of employment after marriage, whether there was a time when the respondent (wife) stopped working and period of such

Regarding the finances of the married couple
・Whether the person is very picky/tight with money (for husband and wife, respectively)
・Whether household accounts are kept, Who keeps the household accounts
・Above what amount is consultation with/reporting to spouse required when making a purchase? (for husband and wife, respectively)
・Level of anxiety regarding current and future financial matters/family finance (for husband and wife, respectively)
・Ratio of income of the married couple

Family living expenses
・Whether all expenditures (food costs, housing costs, etc.) are treated as shared family living expenses
・How the scope of "shared family living expenses" and "personal expenditure" is decided
・Monthly "shared family living expenses"
・Balance of burden of "shared family living expenses," How the balance of burden of "shared family living expenses" was decided, Opinion regarding balance of burden of "shared family living expenses"

Distribution of shared family living expenses
・Existence of "shared family money," monthly amount
・How much is contributed to "shared family money" (amount, proportion of income) (for husband and wife, respectively)
・How income is turned into "shared family money" (for husband and wife, respectively)
・With regard to "shared family money," Who is the main manager of funds, clarity of expenditures, deciding authority regarding purchases, dissatisfaction

Regarding shared family expenses
・How burden of all expenditures (food costs, housing costs, etc.) is shared

Regarding individual expenses
・Monthly personal expenditure (for husband and wife, respectively)
・Existence of pocket money system (for husband and wife, respectively), amount of pocket money (for husband and wife, respectively)
・Method of deciding on amount of expenditure and/or pocket money (for husband and wife, respectively)

Evaluation of family finances
・Burden of managing family finances
・Appropriateness of expenditure amount
・Level of satisfaction regarding use of money (total family finances/husband's spending/wife's spending)
・Frequency of consultation about family finance, frequency of disputes regarding family finance
・Evaluation of family finance as a whole

Regarding residence
・Type of residence, rent, name that residence and land is under
・State of mortgage repayment, total annual mortgage repayments, remaining amount of mortgage, etc.

Normal savings
・Monthly savings of "shared family money"
・Whose account are the savings held in?
・Saving practices
・Individual savings (for husband and wife, respectively)
・Life insurance (for husband and wife, respectively)

Assets
・Financial assets (husband and wife, respectively)
・Real estate (husband/wife/shared)
・Level of contribution to accumulated assets
・Opinion regarding whose name assets should be under

Regarding lifestyle of married couple
・Average daily number of hours (husband and wife, respectively)
・Average time spent talking together per day
・Balance of burden of housework and child-rearing work (husband and wife, respectively)
・Subjective monetary evaluation of housework and child-rearing work
・Perception of necessity of promises in marital relationship
・Health of husband and wife (husband and wife, respectively), etc.

Regarding self and family
・Highest level of educational attainment (husband and wife, respectively)
・Area of residence at age 15/at age 20 (husband and wife, respectively)
・Whether parents are still alive, highest level of educational attainment of parents (husband and wife, respectively)
・Gender of children, birth month and year of children
・Children's school, type of school, school-related expenses, non-school-related expenses
・Discussions related to child rearing and education
・Individual income for the previous year (husband and wife, respectively), household income for the previous year
・Does the married couple disclose their incomes to each other? (husband and wife, respectively)
・Opinion regarding whose money each income represents (husband and wife, respectively), etc.
Date of Release 2018/09/25
Topics in CESSDA Click here for details

Employment
Working conditions
Family life and marriage
Gender and gender roles
Topics in SSJDA Society/Culture
Version 1 : 2018-09-25
Notes for Users