In Taiwan, there’s a huge gap between the wealthy and the poor when it comes to income inequality. According to the Gini coefficient in 2022 was a whopping 0.34. Which indicates there’s an obvious phenomenon of inequality between rich and poor.
One of the reasons for this is capitalism- previous generations owned land through farming, but as the demand for housing increased, governments had to expropriate it. As the land became more valuable, it became so valuable that a family with just a wage could never have the same wealth as a family with an estate. In other words, some people are just lucky to receive higher education or have real estate in the economic “winner’s circle”. As a result, the gap between the rich and the poor will gradually widen.
With deeper research on economic inequality, Taiwan has a serious issue with how much should be the minimum wage. The minimum payment was too low to keep up with inflation, especially after the world pandemic in 2019. Moreover, approximately 730,000 Taiwanese workers have left overseas in recent years, mostly young people between the ages of 20 and 40. This has long been a national security crisis.
Overall, Taiwan become a multi-divisional-form society. The Taiwanese government needs to work on how to support the younger generation in housing, wages, and the huge gap between different families. The inequality in the economy didn’t simply just affect the country’s GDP and worldwide reputation but it also became a stressful issue for the citizens of Taiwan.
citation:
- Taiwan National Statistics. (September 28, 2023). Gini’s concentration coefficient in Taiwan from 1980 to 2022 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved October 26, 2023, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/922574/taiwan-gini-index/
- Staff writer, with CNA (2021, August 15). Income inequality growing amid pandemic: DGBAS. Taipei Times.https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2021/08/16/2003762658