The average monthly income of married women with working husbands stood at ¥59,177 in 2012, up ¥6,082 from the previous year and the highest level since officials started compiling comparable records in 1963.
The data show a rise in the number of married women working part time and that their incomes are helping to support households amid tough economic conditions, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry said Tuesday.
While the average income of husbands, or the heads of households of two or more members, remained almost the same as in 2011, the average monthly income of such households grew 1.6 percent in real terms from the year before, the ministry said. Such households include at least a man with a full-time job and his wife, who may be working full or part time or may be unemployed.
The average monthly spending of such households in 2012 increased 1.1 percent to ¥286,169.