Housewives' "secret savings" fell about 20 percent last year as households were forced to tap these reserves to cover living costs amid falling family income, according to a survey by Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.
The value of "hesokuri," the cash, stocks and real estate that housewives stash without telling their husbands, fell to an average of ¥3.7 million from ¥4.6 million a year earlier, according to the company's report on the survey results.
Women traditionally handle family finances in Japan, collecting their husbands' paychecks and handing back pocket-money to cover the cost of lunches, coffee and drinking sessions with colleagues. The portion of winter bonuses returned to husbands as allowances dropped 34 percent to ¥73,000, enough to pay for three or four weekend golf rounds at the Hon Chiba Country Club east of Tokyo.