Japanese men’s allowance at 1982 low

They’re drinking more as they wait for Abenomics to take hold

TOKYO — The average Japanese husband’s monthly allowance fell to its lowest level since 1982 at the start of the financial year as workers await dividends promised by Abenomics.

Salarymen’s spending money, typically set by wives managing family budgets, was 38,457 yen ($386), down 3 percent from last year and less than half the 1990 peak, ac- cording to Shinsei Bank, a Tokyo-based lender whose data go back to 1979. The April survey of 2,000 people was published June 28.

With Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledging to revive the world’s thirdlargest economy through unprecedented monetary expansion, fiscal stimulus and business deregulation, salarymen allotted more of their budget to going out drinking. They went out an average 2.2 times a month, spending 3,474 yen each time, up 21 percent from last year, the Shinsei report showed.

“Husband’s allowance is the most lagging indicator of Japan’s economy, while female spending is the first to increase,” said Hiroshi Miyazaki, senior econo- mist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities in Tokyo, who says his own ration has been unchanged for a while. “Japanese salarymen don’t have to be pessimistic. Their pocket money should gradually increase to reflect Japan’s recovery.”

In a sign the benefits of a growing economy and rising company profits aren’t yet flowing through to workers, salaries were unchanged in May from a year earlier, the Labor Ministry said Tuesday.