2009 Taiwan Income Gap Widest Ever Between Top and Bottom

cens.com:  The wealth gap in Taiwan has always been evident and gaping; but rocked by the global downturn in the wake of the financial tsunami in the second half of 2008, Taiwan`s average household savings in 2009 fell to below NT$200,000 or US$6,250 with the average savings rate dropping to 20.5%, the lowest of its kind since 1978, according to the survey by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting & Statistics (DGBAS).Households in Taiwan are divided into five income-based categories, with the wealth gaps in each group having widened in recent years. Sociologists worry that the widening wealth gap may arouse complaints, anxiety, anger and disharmony in society.

In 2009, the top 20% among the five income groups saw the average household savings total NT$620,000 (US$19,375), contrasted against the bottom 20% whose savings totaled negative NT$30,697 (US$959.3), the widest gap ever recorded. In the same year, the gap in the fourth-highest income bracket came to NT$24,453 (US$764.16), also the widest of its kind since 1981.  Read more…..