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Rising Homelessness as Taiwan Property Prices Soar
partly driven by the relocation of
manufacturing industries to cheaper
foreign countries such as China and
Vietnam, resulting in the loss of tens
of thousands of blue collar jobs.
Rising of towers and homeless nation
The sight of homeless people
holding placards advertising elite
properties at street corners is
becoming increasingly common
in Taiwan’s capital, providing a
harsh illustration of the island’s gap
between the haves and the have
nots.
One of them is 51-year-old former
taxi driver, Liao Chin-chang who
became homeless a decade ago
and is among the growing number
of victims of a struggling economy,
many of whom have been forced
out of their homes after losing their
jobs.
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www.PropertyHunter.com.my
While the luxury apartment Liao
advertises is expected to sell for
more than NT$100 million (RM11
million), property prices in general
are beyond reach for many regular
salary-earners with an average
monthly income of less than
NT$40,000. For the likes of Liao,
even renting a room is out of the
question.
In recent years, the gap between the
rich and poor has widened rapidly,
reaching a record level in 2011 as
the wealthiest families earned 96
times more than the poorest. It has
coincided with a slowing economy,
Professor Lin Wan-i at National
Taiwan University’s Department of
Social Work cites limited retraining
opportunities, low minimum wage
and low taxes which benefit the
wealthy while limiting the amount
of revenue available for the
government to spend on social
security as contributing factors
to Taiwan’s growing homeless
population. Social workers say
the chances of Taiwan’s homeless
getting back on their feet are slim,
given the competition for long-hour,
low-paying temporary jobs. There is
even competition for temporary jobs
such as placard-holding among the
young people or housewives.
Taiwan has made efforts to address
wealth inequality, while initiating
plans to reign in soaring property
prices and hike taxes for the
wealthy, which has helped narrow
the gap betw