A poll by job bank yes123 found that 39.2 percent of Taiwanese workers aged 39 or younger earn less than they spend every month, marking the sixth consecutive year of polls conducted by the online job bank showing increasing economic distress.
According to the survey released on Saturday, 23.4 percent of workers in that demographic earn more than they spend and 23.4 percent break even, while the share of workers in the red was up from 38.1 percent the previous year.
A total of 73.3 percent of workers in the age group were in debt, including 44.6 percent who reported a “severe” debt burden and 28.7 percent who reported being in debt, but said the burden was “not severe,” the poll showed.
Photo: CNA
When asked to state the causes of debt, allowing multiple reasons to be selected, 44 percent reported student loans, 42.7 percent reported unsecured loans, 36.6 percent reported credit card debts and 23.5 percent reported car loans, it said
In addition, 22.3 percent said they borrowed from friends or family, 16.6 percent said they incurred debt due to failed investments and 13.8 percent had debt from a failed business, the survey revealed.
Should they lose their jobs suddenly, respondents on average estimated that they could survive for 2.5 months while maintaining their current lifestyle, but 34.6 percent said they expect to go under immediately, it said.
Yes123 spokesman Yang Tsung-pin (楊宗斌) said inflation’s negative impact has more than canceled out the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, dimming the economic outlook of young workers.
Young Taiwanese workers spend a large portion of their salary on rent and eating out, since many of them migrated from less developed parts of the nation to work in major cities, Yang said.
Although the minimum wage was recently increased to NT$27,470 per month, the rise of the gig economy, the long-term effect of the “22k curse” and the cost of education likely means that real improvements to income remain elusive, he said.
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