Taiwan take-home pay falls 1.36% in Q1 2012

[GuyInTaiwan]

Feiren: I laughed at "China cargo cult". Are they going to start speaking pidgin too?

HH2: Well, I know that my take-home pay has actually decreased since last year. I got a slight pay increase (roughly inline with inflation), but I've started paying tax this year. There hasn't been a revision in the pay scale since the first of August, 2005.

[headhonchoII]

My take home decreased too even though I have had a couple of rate of inflation pay rises, because I get paid in foreign currency. I don't think there are many people, anywhere, who have seen a decent pay rise recently. The problem in Taiwan's cases is they didn't even get any decent pay raises in the last 10-15 years!

EDIT- The Chinese minimum wage workers are getting something like 20% added on every year, that's good for them, but a fair whack is getting eaten up by inflation too.

What can you call it, 'the great levelling'...unless you are extraordinary, you will be levelled!

[Feiren]

Well, that not true for Taiwan's wealthier citizens.

Taipei household income has increased from about NT1.3 million per household in 2000 to NT1.58 million in 2010. In contrast, farming households in Taidong made NT$600,000 while non-farming households made NT800,000.

[headhonchoII]

I should say salaried workers, the 1% (or whatever it is they amount to who own most of the property and assets), they are loving the low tax, low interest, low wages regime.

[Feiren]

Yep! It must be great to be rich in Taiwan.

[GuyInTaiwan]

HH2: I think it's probably a phenomenon happening all over the world, this "Great Levelling". Anyone who is above average (on a world scale) can pretty much only go downwards due to greater competition. I'm not sure that such a thing was ever going to not happen though. China (and India, and many other parts of the world) were out of the game for so long, but now they're in the game. As soon as they got back in the game, everyone else was pretty much screwed.

Probably the only people who can avoid the "Great Levelling" are either people who really are highly qualified/in demand or people who already have a significant level of assets producing income that way. These two situations don't really describe the average Taiwanese person though (or person from many (semi-)developed nations). I think egalitarian societies are pretty much an illusion, and we're returning to the natural M-shaped societies that have always existed.

[Taiwan Luthiers]

I think the expectation modern people have aren't good. Everyone wants to get a "good job" but few are willing to acquire skills since they all want to be doctors or lawyers or whatever jobs that are hot at the moment. The problem is hot jobs are subject to change and by the time you graduate the jobs may not be so hot anymore.

A society can't work if everyone is a doctor or lawyer so people should find out what they're cut out to do and do that job well.

[headhonchoII]

Well I think there are plenty of people who don't want to work as doctors and laywers, I'm not sure what you are arguing about here?
On the one hand you complain luthiery pays crap in Taiwan and is not appreciated and you would get paid more elsewhere..on the other it's as if you think if you just work hard you will be rewarded for your efforts.

Why do people want to be doctors and lawyers (or their parents for the kids)? Because it's pretty much a guarantee of material success..whereas you can be a shit hot teacher or guitar maker but if society doesn't want to recognise that as a high paying job or if the demand isn't there...well tough luck. The only reason doctors and lawyers get paid so well is because they have professional associations that jealously guard their turf.

[Taiwan Luthiers]

Well I think there are plenty of people who don't want to work as doctors and laywers, I'm not sure what you are arguing about here?
On the one hand you complain luthiery pays crap in Taiwan and is not appreciated and you would get paid more elsewhere..on the other it's as if you think if you just work hard you will be rewarded for your efforts.

Why do people want to be doctors and lawyers (or their parents for the kids)? Because it's pretty much a guarantee of material success..whereas you can be a shit hot teacher or guitar maker but if society doesn't want to recognise that as a high paying job or if the demand isn't there...well tough luck. The only reason doctors and lawyers get paid so well is because they have professional associations that jealously guard their turf.

Hey sometimes I complain about stuff like this because I get frustrated at the lack of customers sometimes, but I know things will pick up given enough time because the few luthiers here literally works 24 hours a day (they actually choose their clients). I am sorry for the complaints I have made in the past and I have been working on not complaining about stuff, just that it's a bit like quitting smoking.

There are plenty of skilled work, both white collar or blue collar that does pay fairly well, maybe not as well as a doctor or lawyer but it pays enough to provide a decent lifestyle. For example welding is a skill that is always in demand everywhere, maybe not so much in Taiwan but a skilled welder doesn't have to worry about not being able to find work. Medicine is special because you have to be licensed in order to practice medicine, but I also know just because you went through medical school doesn't mean you are a good doctor or you're even cut out to be a doctor, and mistakes in medicine is very very costly.

[archylgp]

archylgp: The mean is a poor measure of anything, for the reasons HH2 has mentioned/alluded to. It's too affected by outliers. In theory, the mean could actually have increased, but the median could have decreased, due to someone who was very rich making a lot more money. For example, consider the following two examples:

3, 5, 7 (mean = 5)
2, 4, 12 (mean = 6)

You need to look at the overall distribution. I wouldn't even look at the median. I'd probably look at something like the inter-quartile range.

I know the difference (typed the wrong word.). You're right; it comes down to distribution. If the standard deviation is acceptable,then averages should be fine, correct?

It seems the numbers in the papers a few days ago were wrong, anyways, if the numbers provided by Feiren are correct. Feiren, what method was used to get those numbers?