In recent months, Japanese economic pundit Kenichi Ohmae's latest book, The Impact of Rising Lower Middle Class Population in Japan, has taken Taiwan by storm. The book describes how Japanese society is becoming polarized as a result of structural changes in the economy and long-term recession--on the one hand is a small number of wealthy families, on the other is the growing number of newly poor. If you define the "middle class" as those making at least Japan's average annual income of ¥6 million, the "lower middle class" as those earning ¥3-6 million, and the "lower class" as those earning less than ¥3 million, as of last year 80% of working Japanese were either "lower middle class" or "lower class."

The NT dollar is worth about four Yen, but the cost of living in Taiwan is about one-third of the average in Japan. Taiwan's "lower middle class" therefore could be defined as working people making less than NT$500,000 per year. Our university graduates make an average of only NT$27,000 per month, or less than NT$350,000 per year, when they first leave school, meaning that many young people end up struggling for years to make ends meet. Meanwhile, layoffs and forced retirement are increasing the likelihood that middle-class workers in their middle and later years may also end up joining the ranks of the "new poor."

Professor Ohmae's prescription for this difficult situation is to encourage people to abandon the middle-class tradition of "keeping up with the Joneses." He urges us instead to reevaluate our wants and needs to build a new society that embodies our personal values and lifestyles.

Though Ohmae's suggestions are not targeted specifically at women, women as well as men are being pushed to the limit by the same issues of job insecurity and work pressure as men are. But women are dealing with the growing fragility of marital relations as well, and more and more of them are raising children on their own. In other words, modern women can no longer count on their jobs or their marriages. They therefore must not be weak, but must be even stronger than men.

Taiwan Panorama's cover story this month, "Enterprising Women on the March," concerns Taiwan's bold female entrepreneurs, and details how these women have used their businesses to earn a living and self-validation.

Too often people believe that when women start their own enterprises, they are simply playing at doing business in much the same way children play house--they sell flowers, fashion accessories, health foods, or things for kids. In fact, as our feature makes plain, even the so-called "soft fields" in which women have traditionally worked are no playgrounds for the ignorant. Take the process for drying flowers--the flowers must be dyed and softened, then kept moist yet prevented from rotting. Chen Yi-yu, who self-deprecatingly refers to herself as a "silly girl" worked the whole process out from scratch, and has turned it into a successful business.

This month's issue also contains articles about South Asians working in Taiwan that address adaptations to and perspectives on globalization and the changing job market. The arrival of Indian engineers (or workers of any nationality) in Taiwan means increased competition for local workers. But if we reduce the number of skilled workers we allow into Taiwan, local enterprises will face a labor crunch that will drive up their costs. In that situation, they may simply offshore their operations or their factories, which would also harm local workers.

Faced with this situation, whether it be by starting their own businesses or by becoming globetrotting "professional nomads," people are working for themselves in a broad sense, treating themselves as a brand to be managed. This not only helps them avoid the lower-middle-class trap that Ohmae describes, but also helps them stay tough and flexible so that in the event of a layoff from the mainstream workforce, they can reset their objectives and get moving again quickly.

This is clearly not typical advice, but uncertain times require us to plan for all contingencies. We never know just how wide nor how strong our safety net will have to be to withstand life's travails. But whatever we choose, we must go into it wholeheartedly, with our eyes open and our feet firmly planted.