About 65 percent of Japanese people are worried or feel uncertain about their lives, the highest rate on record, apparently due to the continuing sluggish economy, according to a Cabinet Office survey released Saturday.
Asked the root cause of their fears, 47.1 percent of the respondents identified post-retirement finances, 43.6 percent said health, 38.5 percent family members' health and 37.8 percent future income or assets.
The percentage of respondents who indicated they are anxious -- 65.1 percent -- was up by 2.7 percentage points from the previous survey conducted in December 1999. It was the highest figure since the government began conducting similar surveys in 1958.
The rate of those who have no anxieties at all about life was 33 percent, down by 3.2 points from the previous poll.
The rate of those who believe their lives will get better was 6.2 percent, the lowest figure ever recorded. Those who said life will get worse comprised 28.4 percent, the second highest figure after the 29.9 percent figure posted in 1974 following the oil crisis of 1973, which triggered an economic recession in Japan.
Compared with the 1999 survey, 30.1 percent answered that their lives are worse this year, up by 1.6 percentage points.
Those who are satisfied comprised 61.5 percent, down by 2.2 points.
Asked what action they want the government to take, the top answer was economic stimulus measures at 63.2 percent.
The government conducted the survey in September on 10,000 randomly selected adults across Japan, of whom 70.8 percent responded.