Consumers whose income has declined due to the effects of the new coronavirus are becoming more economized.
A 28-year-old male office worker living in Osaka City works as a travel agency that introduces students to study abroad in China.
In addition to the monthly salary, bonuses are paid twice each year in June and October, but this time the number of jobs has dropped sharply due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection.
Since the bonus was not paid twice and there was no overtime, the annual income is expected to decrease by about 1.3 million yen compared to last year.
Men are cutting food costs first in an attempt to keep their spending down.
I didn't have lunch on that day, but for dinner I made fried rice with rice sent from my parents' house and ate it.
I spend my days off reading and watching movies, but I can hardly afford to spend money on hobbies and entertainment.
Video distribution on the net to add to your life
For this reason, men started distributing videos on the Internet, hoping that they could add to their living expenses.
Taking advantage of my experience working as a local government employee before changing jobs to the current company, I posted several commentary videos on YouTube under the name "Jun" under the title "Basic knowledge of residence tax".
You can now earn income according to the number of views.
However, the amount is only a few thousand yen a month, and even in many months it is only tens of thousands of yen, and it is said that it has not reached the point of stabilizing life.
The man said, "Savings are the number one priority, and I'm worried about how long my life will last. As the effects of the new coronavirus prolong, the psychological burden is quite heavy."
Bonus reduction range Some forecasts exceed the impact of the Lehman shock
There is also a private estimate that the average per capita bonus for this winter will be more than 10% lower than last year, more than during the Lehman shock.
The research company "Mitsubishi UFJ Research & Consulting" estimates the winter bonus of a company based on data such as the company's performance and employment situation.
According to this, the bonus for private companies this winter is expected to be 347,806 yen per person, which is 10.7% less than last year.
The rate of decline is expected to exceed the negative 9.4% in the winter of 2009, which fell sharply from the previous year due to the impact of the Lehman shock.
The biggest factor is that the business performance of companies is deteriorating due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection.
Expert "Concerns about impact on personal consumption, which accounts for more than half of GDP"
Shinichiro Kobayashi, a senior researcher who summarized the estimation, said, "It seems that there are many companies that will stop paying bonuses, and the actual decrease may be even greater. There is concern about the impact on personal consumption, which accounts for more than half of GDP. I'm talking.