| Abstract | |
| Survey Number | 1254 |
| Survey Title | The Questionnaire Survey on Work and Life of Workers, 2018.10 |
| Depositor | JTUC Research Institute for Advancement of Living Standards (Former Name:Research Institute for Advancement of Living Standards) |
| Restriction of Use |
For detailed information, please refer to 'For Data Users' on the SSJDA website.
- Apply to SSJDA. SSJDA's approval is required. |
| Educational Purpose | Available for both research and instructional purposes. |
| Period of Data Use Permission | One year |
| Access to Datasets | Download |
| SSJDA Data Analysis | Not available |
| Summary |
The purpose of this survey is to periodically ascertain workers’ perceptions of economic trends, as well as their views on work and life in Japan, and obtain basic data for examining various policy issues aimed at improving workers’ lives. Since the first iteration in April 2001, the survey has been administered annually in April and October, with the main objective of ascertaining the work and life situations and perceptions of various workers. Since the twenty-first iteration of the survey (in April 2011), the survey method has been changed from a conventional postal monitoring survey to an Internet-based web monitoring survey in order to expand the survey’s target audience. In this thirty-sixth iteration of the survey, in addition to fixed-point items pertaining to business confidence, prices, and attitudes toward work, we administered a semi-fixed-point questionnaire (October fixed-point survey) on “attitudes toward and actual conditions regarding working hours.” The following specific topics were also surveyed: "awareness and actual conditions regarding work–life balance," and "actual conditions regarding the use of annual paid leave," as well as "awareness regarding the acceptance of foreign workers," in relation to the rapidly growing issue of foreign nationals working in Japan, and "awareness regarding the working style of schoolteachers," as schoolteachers have been noted to have long working hours. Since the previous survey, the scope has been expanded to cover all regions of Japan, and the sample size has been increased to more accurately grasp and analyze the actual situation of workers' work and lives. |
| Data Type | quantitative research: micro data |
| Universe | Persons in their 20s to early 60s living in Japan who are employed in the private sector |
| Unit of Observation | Individual |
| Sample Size | People in their 20s to 50s: 3,964; people in their early 60s: 338 |
| Date of Collection |
2018-10-01 ~ 2018-10-05 2018/10/01 (Tue) – 10/05 (Fri) |
| Time Period |
2018 ~ 2018 |
| Spatial Unit | Japan All over Japan |
| Sampling Procedure |
Non-probability: Quota
1. Based on a hypothetical sample size of 2,000, a sample allocation standard was created to reflect the distribution of employed persons aged 20–64 by gender, age group, and employment status in the Tokyo metropolitan area (Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, and Kanagawa prefectures) and the Kansai region (Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, and Wakayama prefectures), respectively, based on the 2009 Employment Status Survey. 2. Using the above sample allocation criteria for the Tokyo metropolitan area and the Kansai region as a basis, national allocation criteria were developed, and the total number of subjects was 4,302. Based on the above allocation criteria, people employed by private companies registered as monitors with INTAGE, Inc. and who reside in Japan were randomly selected and asked to respond to the questionnaire to obtain responses that exceed the allocation criteria for each group. 3. From among the responses received, the sample was selected at random so that the number of samples for each stratum would meet the allocation standard. *Additionally, INTAGE Inc. recruits monitors mainly through its website and newspaper and magazine advertisements. |
| Mode of Data Collection | Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI) Internet-based web monitoring survey (individual entry on the web) |
| Investigator | Research Institute for Advancement of Living Standards; actual survey conducted by INTAGE Research Inc. |
| DOI | 10.34500/SSJDA.1254 |
| 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 】 【 Frequency Tables 】 |
| Major Survey Items |
[Questionnaire items] (1) Economic trends and business conditions Japan's economy, employers’ business conditions, increase/decrease in the number of employees, increase/decrease in actual working hours, unemployment concerns, etc. (2) Income, consumption, and living conditions Increase/decrease in respondent's wage income, increase/decrease in household income/consumption, sense of price fluctuation, household living conditions, etc. (3) Evaluation of work and life Respondent’s perceptions of current job, intention to change jobs, level of satisfaction with job, level of satisfaction with life in general, etc. (4) Labor union Existence of a labor union, respondent’s labor union membership status/intention to join a union, and necessity of a union (5) Working hours and management of working time Whether the respondent works in excess of the required working hours, hours worked in excess of the required working hours, feelings about working in excess of the required working hours, reasons for working in excess of the required working hours, whether the employee is entitled to receive overtime pay, unreported overtime hours, reasons for failure to report overtime hours, respondent’s reasons for adjusting their reported hours of work, whether respondent does shift work, whether the respondent works overtime, whether the respondent works late-night overtime, employer’s working hours system (discretionary labor system, flextime system, etc.), whether the respondent has experienced health problems due to long working hours in the past six months, supervisor’s management of working hours and work allocation at the respondent’s current workplace, and respondent's perception of problems at their current workplace in the past year (6) Awareness and reality of work–life balance Whether work or personal life is more important to the respondent, number of workdays in a week, daily time allocation (on days with and without work), and desirable daily time allocation (on days with and without work) (7) Actual status of use of annual paid leave Number of days of annual paid leave, actual number of days of annual paid leave taken in the last fiscal year, number of days granted and taken in the last fiscal year, main reasons for leaving annual paid leave unused, whether annual paid leave can be taken at the desired time, whether a leave system has been introduced at the respondent’s workplace, whether there is a special leave system and the types of leave (sick leave, nursing leave, care leave, etc.), and workplace leave status and related efforts (8) Awareness of the acceptance of foreign workers Whether the respondent is a Japanese national, percentage of foreign nationals currently living in Japan out of the total Japanese population, percentage of foreign nationals working in Japan, presence of foreign nationals in the workplace, awareness of the acceptance of foreign workers, and impact of an increase in the number of foreign workers (expectations and concerns) (9) Attitudes toward schoolteachers’ working hours ・Whether the respondent knows that the schoolteachers’ average working hours are longer than those of other local government officials and private sector workers, whether the respondent is aware of the main reasons for schoolteachers’ long working hours and that they are not paid overtime for teaching club activities and grading tests, whether the respondent has a child attending elementary school, junior high school, or high school, respondent’s expectations of their child’s school and teachers, and whether the respondent has been involved with local schools in the past year [Respondents’ social and demographic items] Gender, age, area of residence, employment type, employment contract period, type of employment, highest level of educational attainment, marital status, family members who share the same livelihood, age of the youngest child, presence of relatives in need of care, primary household earner, spouse’s employment type, size of workforce at respondent’s place of employment, occupation type, years of service, actual working hours, annual wage income, annual household income, household savings, loan status, support for the current cabinet, etc. |
| Date of Release | 2019/12/19 |
| Topics in CESSDA |
Click here for details Economic conditions and indicators Employment Labour relations/conflict Working conditions |
| Topics in SSJDA | Employment/Labor Society/Culture |
| Version | 1 ： 2019-12-19 |
| Notes for Users |