The publishing company Sankei Living recently conducted a survey into drinking habits of working women.
Demographics
During January 2015 701 female members of the City Living email newsletter members completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 5.6% of the sample were in their twenties, 35.9% in their thirties, 45.8% in their forties, and 12.7% in their fifties. 25.1% were employed full-time in positions on a promotion track, 48.8% in ordinary full-time positions, 7.6% contract employees, 9.0% dispatch workers, and 9.6% in part-time or short-term employment. Furthermore, 25.0% lived by themselves, 29.2% were single and living with their parents, 23.1% DINKS, Dual Income No Kids, 16.1% with children, and 6.6% other.
That’s quite a lot of drinking, and more worrying, the number who drink on their own is quite significant. Fortunately, at worst there was just three people having beer for breakfast or a swift one at the office.
For myself, I have drunk exactly one can of beer at home since I moved to Tokyo, and before that I averaged about one or two a year.
Research results
Q1: How often do you drink at home? (Sample size=701)
| Almost every day (to SQs) |
15.3% |
| Three or four times a week (to SQs) |
11.6% |
| Once or twice a week (to SQs) |
21.4% |
| Few times a month (to SQs) |
11.8% |
| Almost never |
26.2% |
| Don’t drink alcohol |
13.7% |
Q1SQ1: Compared to two or three years ago, how has your drinking at home changed? (Sample size=410)
| Increased |
32.4% |
| Not changed |
56.1% |
| Decreased |
11.5% |
Note that the next question has an extra four people in the sample compared to Q1SQ1 – perhaps the previous question eliminated the few who were aged 20 or 21, so they would not have (leagally) drunk two or three years ago.
Q1SQ2: In what situations do you drink at home? (Sample size=414, multiple answer)
| With evening meal |
80.2% |
| While relaxing after evening meal |
39.1% |
| While relaxing at home on weekends |
25.6% |
| After bath |
23.4% |
| At home party |
18.1% |
| Soon after returning home |
11.1% |
| With lunch on weekends |
9.9% |
| As a night cap |
6.8% |
| Other |
0.7% |
I don’t why the next question has lost one person!
Q1SQ3: Why do you drink at home? (Sample size=413, multiple answer)
| As a reward for a hard day at the office |
47.0% |
| Like alcoholic beverages |
46.2% |
| To complement the taste of food |
38.7% |
| To cheer myself up |
35.1% |
| To relieve stress |
31.0% |
| Because it’s enjoyable |
19.4% |
| As a habit |
15.0% |
| To relax, calm down |
10.4% |
| Other |
2.7% |
Q1SQ4: Who do you most often drink with at home? (Sample size=412)
| By myself |
42.5% |
| Husband |
35.0% |
| Parents |
11.7% |
| Boyfriend |
5.1% |
| Friends |
3.2% |
| Brothers, sisters |
2.2% |
| Other |
0.5% |
Q1SQ5: Where do you buy your alcohol for drinking at home? (Sample size=413, multiple answer)
| Supermarket |
81.8% |
| Convenience store |
30.8% |
| Discount store |
24.0% |
| Liquor shop |
23.0% |
| Internet shopping |
17.2% |
| Department store |
13.1% |
| Drug store |
10.4% |
| Other |
1.9% |
Q1SQ6: Where do you buy your alcohol for drinking at home? (Sample size=various, top three answers for each category)
| |
Normal weekday nights
N=417 |
Night before weekends
N=414 |
Weekends
N=416 |
| Beer |
50.6% |
55.3% |
56.7% |
| Happoshu beer-like |
18.9% |
16.7% |
14.9% |
| New genre beer-like |
23.3% |
18.6% |
17.8% |
| Cocktail, chu-hai (highball), other mixed drink |
33.8% |
35.0% |
34.6% |
| Fruit wine (plum, etc) |
14.6% |
17.1% |
18.5% |
| Sake |
7.0% |
13.3% |
13.9% |
| Wine |
40.0% |
54.3% |
61.3% |
| Whisky, bourbon |
4.8% |
7.5% |
8.4% |
| Shochu, awamori, makkori |
8.6% |
10.6% |
10.1% |
| Other |
1.0% |
0.5% |
1.2% |
| Don’t drink at that time |
12.2% |
3.9% |
1.9% |
Q2: Which of these health-related matters do you actively consider when choosing alcoholic beverages? (Sample size=701, multiple answer)
| Low calorie |
36.8% |
| Zero calorie |
21.0% |
| Low sugar |
29.0% |
| Zero sugar |
21.4% |
| Low purine |
16.5% |
| Zero purine |
13.8% |
| Low alcohol |
10.1% |
| Zero alcohol |
11.1% |
| Other |
1.4% |
| Nothing in particular |
39.4% |
Q3: How often do you drink non-alcohol alcohol-like drinks? (Sample size=701)
| Often |
8.1% |
| Sometimes |
25.0% |
| Rarely |
28.2% |
| Never |
38.7% |
Q4: From where do you get information about alcoholic, non-alcoholic alcohol-like beverages? (Sample size=701, multiple answer)
| Television |
60.8% |
| Internet (official brand, maker site) |
27.4% |
| Conversation with colleagues, friends, family |
21.7% |
| Outdoor advertising |
14.7% |
| Public transport advertising |
13.1% |
| Internet (word-of-mouth review site) |
13.1% |
| Conversation with shop staff |
12.4% |
| Magazine (including apps) |
12.3% |
| Free paper (including apps) |
11.4% |
| Newspaper (including apps) |
10.8% |
| Advertising leaflet |
10.3% |
| SNS |
5.1% |
| Radio |
2.4% |
| Other |
1.3% |
| Not aware of getting information from anywhere |
19.4% |
Q5: Does changes in taxation, etc, have an effect on you when you buy alcoholic beverages? (Sample size=701)
| Has effect |
30.8% |
| Has no effect |
37.7% |
| Hardly drink any alcohol |
17.8% |
| Don’t drink any alcohol at all |
13.7% |
The publishing company Sankei Living recently conducted a survey into drinking habits of working women.
1 Comment
Mike · March 18, 2015 at 13:02
Very interesting! I see in your initial comments that you found it concerning that people would drink at home alone.
I almost always drank at home, quite frequently alone. I did this for a few reasons, primarily my main readon was cost! (I dont drink any more). It was just waaaaaay to expensive to go out drinking at bars or clubs most of the time. For about the cost of one or two drinks/beers I could buy a six pack of beer!
Second reason was convienance. After working a twelve hour shift its way too tiring to go someplace to drink and then travel home afterwards when I could be at home BBQ’ing on the balcony patio, watching TV and drinking beer! ;). …often I would enjoy drinking while chatting online in the evenings/weekend while having a few beers. (Back when BBS systems were the thing and the internet was basically unknown)
Third reason was travel. Especially at night. Last thing you want is getting pulled over by the police when you’ve been drinking!! There were no bars/clubs within walking/bicycle distance (actually no alcohol sales in that town!) and the busses stopped running after a certain hour. Taxi cabs were pretty expensive too for the distance. (Again, cost!;)
Social setting. Unless you went with friends you rarely knew what/who to expect, so you either wound up drinking alone in a crouded room or having to deal with rude people often, hoping nobody started any fights!
Personally I never understood drinking at strip clubs (titty bars;), why get drunk looking at naked girls you know you cant touch?! I was amazed at how much money some guys spent at places like that!! We gad one guy I worked with that was really addicted to going, he would spend hundreds of dollars after payday, drinking and ‘tipping’ the dancers! He could have bought a house with all the money he blew there over the years! Yeesh!!
Fourth reason is safety, you’re in a secure location, nobody is going to bother you, fight with you, attack you in the parking lot/rape you. Not going to get hit by a car, get mugged/robbed. The list goes on!
Usually if my friends and I went ‘out’ drinking we would go to ‘house parties’ instead of clubs/bars.