Half of households in Tokyo earn less than 5 million yen in annual income

Article title: Half of households in Tokyo earn less than 5 million yen in annual income
Source:MAINICHI dairy news(online)
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on Wednesday, May,16

Households with less than 5 million yen in annual income surpassed 50 percent in 2006 -- for the first time since 1981, a survey conducted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has suggested.
The metropolitan government surveyed 6,000 households randomly selected from various parts of Tokyo in November and December last year. Of them, 3,775, or 63 percent, responded.
Over half, or 51 percent, of the households responded that their annual income is less than 5 million yen, up 13 points from the previous survey in 2001. Those that earn less than 3 million yen a year accounted for 27 percent, an increase of 9.3 percentage points from the previous poll.

The results also show that the number of families with high incomes has been decreasing. Those with an annual income of 20 million yen or over accounted for 1.6 percent, a decline of 1.7 percentage points from five years earlier. The ratio of households with income between 10 million yen and less than 20 million yen came to 11.5 percent, down 3.2 points.

Furthermore, 28 percent of households surveyed responded that their main sources of income are pension or welfare benefits. A record high of 22 percent said nobody is their households is employed.

The metropolitan government has conducted such a survey every five years since 1981.

I think this article shows us the real problem of the widening gap beteen rich and poor.