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Degree of freedom of life drops 3 pts since last month to 51.2 pts.
Anxieties about income and health dip, while behaviors like net shopping and teleworking increase
The most frequently given response to how they will use the Special Cash Payment is Have not decided, at 35.7%

Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living, a think tank of Hakuhodo Inc., in May 2020 conducted its second “Survey of Sei-katsu-sha Concerning COVID-19” to understand sei-katsu-sha’s attitudes and behaviors as the new coronavirus has spread. The survey was conducted May 7–11, 2020 in the Greater Tokyo, Nagoya and Hanshin (Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo and Nara Prefectures) areas, targeting 1,500 males and females aged 20–69. Some questionnaire items have been surveyed since March.

When we asked sei-katsu-sha to rate their freedom of life under current circumstances if their normal life prior to the spread of COVID-19 rated 100 points, the result was 51.2 points. That is a drop of 3 points since the April survey, which was conducted prior to the Japanese government declaring a state of emergency.

The survey asks respondents about 39 items including anxieties, activities they are restricting and behaviors they have changed as a result of the spread of COVID-19. In degree of anxiety, scores for items such as Feel anxious about my and my family’s jobs and income (63.9%) remained high, but were lower than in the April survey. In degree of activity restriction and degree of behavioral change, items such as Refrain from eating out (91%) and Refrain from going out and use net shopping and food delivery services instead (59.5%) stood out for garnering higher scores than they did in April. In addition, the most frequently given response to how they will use the government’s Special Cash Payment was Have not decided (35.7%). The sum of Have decided, 17.5%, and Have vaguely decided, 32.7%, is around 50%.

This survey will be conducted regularly for the time being (the content of the survey may be changed depending on circumstances).

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