The poverty-disaster link
Looking at the problem from a different angle, one of the consequences of the ever-increasing stress of daily life is that there has been a sharp increase in the number of suicides. Statistics indicate that from 2001 to 2005 there were 16,779 suicides. But 4,282 of these came in 2005 alone, of which, according to statistics of the Department of Health, more than 700 cases involved economic problems. "As we understand the situation, only a very small number of suicides caused by economic problems occur in low-income households," explains Lin Wan-i. "Most of the cases involve the new poor. They have fallen down from a stable socioeconomic status and are psychologically unable to cope. When you add in the fact that they are excluded from the social welfare net, that's when they finally take the road of no return."
The continual increase in the number of suicides, plus a worsening of social problems like card debt and convenience-store robberies, has shocked the government into action. In May of 2006 Premier Su Tseng-chang asked Lin Wan-i, who has a strong reputation among social activist circles, straight out: Why are so many people killing themselves? What can be done about it? This was the background to the inclusion of an emergency family relief program in the Big Warmth program that the Executive Yuan announced in September.
From NGOs to government, helping the "new poor" has become a high-priority item for everyone. And not just in Taiwan. In fact, across the Pacific in the US, as early as 1997 the government launched the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program to address the steady increase in the number of poor people--at one point reaching as high as 13% of the total population.
TANF incorporated a number of tools, including direct subsidies and assistance in finding jobs. At one point, more than 2 million families received regular TANF subsidies. Meanwhile, the jobs aspect of the program greatly improved the employment situation for families (including single-parent families) facing economic difficulties, and millions of people formerly dependent on the welfare system greatly increased their economic independence.
Mediating conflicts
The M-shaped society, downward social mobility.... The sliding of middle-class people into the ranks of the new poor has been much discussed in the global media in the last two years, to an extent that has been rather alarming.
The term "new middle class" first appeared in Britain in the 1850s. "In contrast, Taiwan's middle class first appeared around the 1960s, more than 100 years later than in the West. As you can imagine, so-called middle-class consciousness and values are not as pronounced in Taiwan," says Tsai Hung-cheng, assitant professor of applied sociology at Nanhua University, adding: "But when the US and Europe began to move in the 1970s toward a knowledge-based economy which prompted a redivision of wealth, we were able to catch up to this competitive trend in a very short period of time, and accept a complete re-dealing of the cards among various social groups."
For the individual, the middle class represents pride and dignity, and the power to stabilize society and carry it forward in pursuit of a better tomorrow. For society as a whole, the middle class's affirmation of its own values is an irreplaceable asset.
"Therefore, to be concerned about the current plight of the middle class, you not only have to pay attention to the economic problems that they face, you also have to carefully manage the major shocks that could hit society if one day middle-class consciousness completely collapses," avers Tsai Hung-cheng.
Stabilizing force
"In fact, in the midterm elections that were just held in the US, many of the crucial issues were closely related to the concerns of the middle class," Lin Wan-i points out. The TANF program initiated under the Clinton administration successfully reduced the percentage of the American population defined as "poor" to below 10%, but now it has risen back up to 13%. This is very sobering for the middle class, because under conditions of incorrect policy direction, if they get just a bit careless they could slip into the ranks of the poor. This is why they opted for the Democratic Party, which tends to make policy more from the perspective of the poor.
"This is despite the fact that this means they will have to share more of the national budget and resources with the poor," explains Lin. This type of new attitude, which takes the perspective of society as a whole, and seeks not winner-take-all but mutual support and mutual benefit with everyone coexisting and succeeding together, is just what is sorely needed in Taiwan.
Today, with competition unabated and more "new poor" appearing all the time, the concept of mutual support is all the more to be cherished. It is precisely this aspect that shows the degree to which a society can really be considered a unified body in which all parts share a common fate. l