世論 What Japan Thinks

With Coming of Age ceremonies being held mainly on the 14th of January this year, it is timely to look at a recent survey of these soon-to-be adults conducted by MacroMill Inc on the topic of new adults, specifically how they see their future.

Demographics

Over the 20th and 21st of December 2007 516 members of the Macromill monitors who will be attending a Coming of Age ceremony in 2008 completed a private online questionnaire. The sample was split 50:50 male and female, and of course all were either 19 or 20 years old.

Freeterism seems accetable in certain circumstances to a majority of people in Q7, which was a surprise to me. Freeter is the Japanese word mashed-up from freelance and arbeiter, which is from Arbeit, the German for part time work. It basically means casual labour, flitting between jobs as frequently as from day-to-day; working for a bit, taking time off for a bit.

In Q9, with just a slender majority happy to be able to drink might indicate a significant group of under-age drinkers, and as for smoking, I think it is safe to say that there must be a lot of kids who are already nicotine addicts!

Research results

Q7: How do you think regarding you yourself working as a freeter? (Sample size=516)

	All	Male N=258	Female N=258
Not bothered whether I do	10.7%	8.5%	12.8%
If I can’t find my hoped-for job, not bothered whether I do	8.3%	6.6%	10.1%
If I have other objectives, not bothered whether I do	36.4%	32.9%	39.9%
Don’t want to become a freeter	44.6%	51.9%	37.2%

Q8: Do you have an ideal adult or adults (role model figure)? (Sample size=516)

	All	Male N=258	Female N=258
Yes (to SQ)	50.4%	45.7%	55.0%
No	49.6%	54.3%	45.0%

Q8SQ: Who is your an ideal adult (role model figure)? (Sample size=260, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=118	Female N=142
Father	40.8%	39.8%	41.5%
Mother	34.6%	23.7%	43.7%
Teacher	29.2%	29.7%	28.9%
Actor, entertainer	13.5%	12.7%	14.1%
Boss, older person at work	10.4%	11.0%	9.9%
Grandparent	8.5%	6.8%	9.9%
Friend	8.1%	3.4%	12.0%
Older student at school	8.1%	6.8%	9.2%
Other parental family figure	7.3%	3.4%	10.6%
Author, artist	6.2%	7.6%	4.9%
Brother, sister	4.2%	2.5%	5.6%
Historical figure	3.1%	2.5%	3.5%
Politician	1.2%	2.5%	0.0%
Other	9.6%	10.2%	9.2%

Q9: What makes you happy about being, or will make you happy when you become twenty? (Sample size=516, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=258	Female N=258
Can drink alcohol	51.7%	45.3%	58.1%
Can vote	33.9%	36.0%	31.8%
I will be seen as an adult by other people	28.7%	27.9%	29.5%
Can get a credit card without needing parental approval	20.5%	19.8%	21.3%
Can get married without parental approval	13.8%	12.4%	15.1%
Can attend Coming of Age ceremony	11.4%	10.1%	12.8%
Can smoke	5.6%	5.4%	5.8%
Can gamble on horses, boats, bicycles, etc	5.6%	8.1%	3.1%
Other	17.8%	17.1%	18.6%

Q10: How important are the following to you? (Sample size=516)

	Important	Quite important	Quite unimportant	Unimportant
Obtain, hone skills for the future	65.1%	30.8%	2.5%	1.6%
Hobbies	65.5%	29.7%	4.3%	0.6%
Money	63.4%	31.4%	4.8%	0.4%
Work, future work	60.1%	32.6%	6.4%	1.0%
Friendship	50.8%	39.9%	5.8%	3.5%
Realising my dream	52.3%	37.8%	7.6%	2.3%
Living to enjoy the moment	52.5%	37.0%	8.7%	1.7%
Filial piety	45.9%	43.0%	9.3%	1.7%
Love (relationships)	37.6%	33.1%	19.4%	9.9%
Marriage (building a happy family)	32.9%	28.7%	23.1%	15.3%

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