Japanese sleeping less, working more, gov't survey shows
The average amount of sleep Japanese people get each night has fallen to its lowest level in 20 years, while working hours have increased, a survey by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has shown.
The results of the ministry's basic survey on social life indicate that many Japanese are working hard but not getting enough sleep.
The survey is conducted every five years, questioning about 180,000 people aged 10 or over from roughly 80,000 households. The amount of sleep people in Japan get has been falling among both men and women ever since the first survey was conducted in 1986.
People aged between 45 and 49 got the least amount of sleep, with the average standing at 7 hours, 5 minutes a night. Next was a group of people aged between 40 and 44, who got an average of 7 hours, 9 minutes sleep each night.
Sleeping the longest was the group of people aged 85 or over, who got 9 hours, 47 minutes of shut-eye on average.
The survey also showed that working hours were increasing. Up until 2001, the amount of time people spent working had fallen, but a turnabout was subsequently seen with an increase in 2006, when the latest survey was conducted.
Regular workers and employees worked for an average of 7 hours, 11 minutes a day -- an increase of 15 minutes compared with five years earlier. Other employees worked for an average of 4 hours, 27 minutes a day, marking an increase of 13 minutes.
The overall average amount of time people spent on meals each day was 1 hour, 39 minutes -- 1 minute more than five years before, but when restricted to the groups of people aged between 45 and 64, the amount fell by between 1 and 3 minutes on average.
---Vocabulary---
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications : 総務省
Social life : 社会生活
Conduct : 行う
Roughly : およそ
Houeshold : 家族、世帯
Shut-eye : 一眠り
Up until : -まで
Turnabout : 方向転換
Subsequently : その後に、その次に
Regular worker : 常用労働者
Employee : 会社員
Restrict to : 制限する
Meal : 食事
The average amount of sleep Japanese people get each night has fallen to its lowest level in 20 years, while working hours have increased, a survey by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has shown.
The results of the ministry's basic survey on social life indicate that many Japanese are working hard but not getting enough sleep.
The survey is conducted every five years, questioning about 180,000 people aged 10 or over from roughly 80,000 households. The amount of sleep people in Japan get has been falling among both men and women ever since the first survey was conducted in 1986.
People aged between 45 and 49 got the least amount of sleep, with the average standing at 7 hours, 5 minutes a night. Next was a group of people aged between 40 and 44, who got an average of 7 hours, 9 minutes sleep each night.
Sleeping the longest was the group of people aged 85 or over, who got 9 hours, 47 minutes of shut-eye on average.
The survey also showed that working hours were increasing. Up until 2001, the amount of time people spent working had fallen, but a turnabout was subsequently seen with an increase in 2006, when the latest survey was conducted.
Regular workers and employees worked for an average of 7 hours, 11 minutes a day -- an increase of 15 minutes compared with five years earlier. Other employees worked for an average of 4 hours, 27 minutes a day, marking an increase of 13 minutes.
The overall average amount of time people spent on meals each day was 1 hour, 39 minutes -- 1 minute more than five years before, but when restricted to the groups of people aged between 45 and 64, the amount fell by between 1 and 3 minutes on average.
---Vocabulary---
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications : 総務省
Social life : 社会生活
Conduct : 行う
Roughly : およそ
Houeshold : 家族、世帯
Shut-eye : 一眠り
Up until : -まで
Turnabout : 方向転換
Subsequently : その後に、その次に
Regular worker : 常用労働者
Employee : 会社員
Restrict to : 制限する
Meal : 食事