Japan's household spending, real wages extend COVID-driven declines

The headline is so absurd.

Don't worry. The 1 to 3 yen minimum wage increase will do wonders for the economy. Just wait and see.

Guess GoTo campaigns and a one time stimulus that can cover maybe a month's rent didn't do the trick? They are stop gap measures so that the rentier crony capitalists and their political minions are set to reap the devalued assets coming from all the bankruptcies.

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/6/17/21293353/coronavirus-covid-19-economy-recession-unemployment-raj-chetty

I've actually learned that one does not need to go to an izakaya on the weekend to enjoy themselves. Now, I've gotten used to drinking at home while watching my 5 and 2 year old argue over what we are going to watch while my wife referees between the two of them. LOL! I don't think we are going to go back to going out like before even when this is all over. Got used to being hermits, and we like it. Going out for us means going to friends' houses for BBQs, and staying the night. Or we entertain people at home.

Yeah, I can only speak for my family, but I would say that the days of always going out are over for us. Just not worth the hassle anymore.

”Compared with the previous month, household spending rose 1.7% in August after a 6.5% decline in July.

"We expect the overall economy including consumer spending will pick up as the economic activity restarts," said Yusuke Shimoda, senior economist at Japan Research Institute.”

Good news!. Slowly but surely Japan is recovering.

Guess GoTo campaigns and a one time stimulus that can cover maybe a month's rent didn't do the trick?

Don’t knock GoTo. I’m GoToing now and it is much better than sitting at home with depression about my two businesses have folded and we can’t sell our house as nobody has money.

get out and live life as it is your last day.

Chinese tourism seems to be the only remedy for the Japanese economy in both short term and long term. No wonder why Suga and Abe were willing to wage a trade war against South Korea but never with China.

Tadashi Yanai told pretty much all of Japanese elite businesspeople to flee Japan for Asia or North America (mostly Asia) if you want to simply survive.

I don't think we are going to go back to going out like before even when this is all over.

Haha, when will that be :)

Fir families, parents going out and having a good time runs the risk of getting the virus and then who looks after the kids? Better to stay home. No amount of “stimulus” or subsidies is going to make me go crazy.

And with the work from home thing, that’s less people going to get lunch at restaurants etc too. Coronavirus will have lasting impacts. I hope the government types realize and accept that before they indebt us too much more.

Many families are struggling to make ends meet! Japanese Government has to seriously consider a second round of 100,000 to 300,000 yen payment to each citizen including long term foreign residents! If the Government can pay 200billion yen annually to keep the US military in Japan then it definitely can spend more on its own citizens who pay taxes!

@Aly... that’s the perfect way to live life especially nowadays. Some others can learn from your shared experience and do the same!

If the Government can pay 200billion yen annually to keep the US military in Japan then it definitely can spend more on its own citizens who pay taxes!

That might be an exaggeration. The Komeito-backed 100,000 blanket handouts cost 12 trillion yen.

I do my upmost, paying more tobacco taxes and sometimes going to my favorite yakitoriya that isn’t covered by the GoTo-bonus. That means, by supporting the economy with every possible effort I have not even money left for my ECMO, as that day comes nearer and nearer I would have needed one. lol

I'm afraid the governments policy is poverty for all, just not them, and they are doing a spectacular job, so I can't really complain it's their policy and for once shows results. So thet can on this point justify their jobs.

Eleven months of decline means this predates Covid-19, i.e., it started with that tax hike last year.

We went to Disney Sea this week with GoTo. Its normally 35,000 yen for the five of us just to get in, but for 59,000 we got entry, a night with a big breakfast buffet at the Hilton hotel next door, and 13,000 yen in coupons we spent on the way home in the Edion electrical store in Misato. I know little about TDL, but apparently they're only letting half the normal number of people in, so its both cheaper and less crowded at the moment.

Japan even lazy, mean heart bad stabbing Japanese workers ard getting paid well. What are they complaining about. It's the real hard working foreigners who have worked building Japanese companies that get the burnt.

I think we need more info from the govt. I for one am not content to cower in fear at home for the rest of my life.