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 According to the 2024 World Happiness Report (WHR) published by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford.  The survey panel ranked Taiwan 31st on the list, with Japan ranking 51th, S. Korea 52nd. (Mar. 2024)

Brookings, 2024-9-25: Taiwan authorities have attempted without success to incentivize population growth through subsidies. Looking ahead, greater policy efforts will likely be needed to address the root causes of declining fertility, including by offering greater access to child and elder care, affordable housing, and reductions in cost-of-living stresses on younger generations.

The Conversation (2023-12-21): Taiwan's falling birth rate has become a national security issue / For three years now, deaths have exceeded births in Taiwan. Only immigration is preventing a real decline in population.
 (1) Young women in Taiwan   tend to explain   their preference for pets over babies in terms of financial pressures, particularly the cost of housing.
 marriage avoidance has become a marked phenomenon. (2) the problem is grounded in the Confucian cultural bedrock of the region. Family and society are rigidly patriarchal. Workplace organisation and wider societal structures are unfavourable to women. (3) Taiwanese live with an undercurrent of concern about the future of their country. If so,... a lack of security in geopolitical terms is informing decisions about whether or not to marry and have childrentheconversation.com/why-taiwans-falling-birth-rate-has-become-a-national-security-issue-219968

United Daily (聯合報, 2024-9-18): The elderly encounter discrimination everywhere in their daily life, and often face unequal treatment in Taiwan.  Is it difficult for Taiwan's government not taking lead to do this ?

udn.com/news/story/7338/8233875?from=udn_ch2_menu_v2_main_cate

SCMP (2024-1-6): Government statistics show the minimum living cost in Taipei is around NT$24,000 (US$780) per month- excluding rent, which can easily reach at least NT$15,000 (US$480) for a small one-person flat, or NT$30,000 (US$960) for a two-room flat.   UDN (聯合報), 2023-12-14: The Median number of monthly salary in Taiwan is about NT$43,000.

Modern Diplomacy (2024-1-15): Incomes remain low. In fact, Taiwan has one of the most inadequate incomes among advanced nations, with the minimum wage reportedly fulfilling just 49.5% of the basic needs.  The Taiwanese economy seems to be losing its charisma as the GDP consistently declined from 6.6% in 2021 to 2.6% in 2022 and 1.4% in 2023.   moderndiplomacy.eu/2024/01/15/lai-ching-te-and-the-challenges-ahead-for-taiwan/ CHERRY HITKARI

   United Daily (聯合報), 2023-7-25:  The US predicts Taiwan to have world's (227 countries) lowest birth rate in 2023.  ...udn.com/news/story/7338/7322470?from=udn_ch2cate6643sub7338_pulldownmenu_v2

   United Daily (聯合報),  2024-7-24: Currently, the number of suicides and self-mutilations among Taiwanese teenagers has increased ten times since 1996. The number of Taiwanese who do not get married, don't want children... ranks world No.1 .  Young people even do not choose to fall in love anymore.  Two million people suffer from depression, and a quarter of the population have difficulty in sleeping at night.

   United Daily (2024-5-15): In the past 8 years, Taiwanese real recurring salary/revenue grew negatively year after year.   According to Gov. (主計總處) statistics (「家庭財富分配統計」二○二一年) , the average number of top 20 Taiwanese family-wealth is 66.9 times as high as that of the bottom 20%.   The amount of Taiwanese got scammed/fraud is up to NT8.878 billion, which hits new high.    udn.com/news/story/124029/7964444?from=redpush

 

 

              
pic. :
pic. : The web-site group was ranked No.1 "Taiwanese Happiness" on Yandex of Russia, 2024-5-15, 2024-1-21, 2024-1-6, 2023-12-3, 2023-9-3, 2023-5-20, 2023-5-9, 2023-2-11, 2022-9-22, 2022-7-52024-1-6, 2023-12-3, 2023-9-3, 2023-5-20, 2023-5-9, 2023-2-11, 2022-9-22, 2022-7-5; No.2 "Taiwanese Happiness" on Yandex of Russia, 2024-7-25;  pic.: No.1 "台灣人幸福"( "Taiwanese Happiness") on Bing, 2024-1-21, 2024-1-6, 2023-12-3, 2023-5-9, 2023-2-11 (Chinese version)

 

 

   United Daily (聯合報),  2023-10-31:  Half of young people are poor so that they don't need to file taxes.  The gap between the rich and the poor hit 10 years high.  (半數年輕人窮到免繳稅,去年貧富差距創十年新高) udn.com/news/story/7338/7540439?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2       China Times (中國時報) , 2023-12-2: The declining birthrate has plunged into a vicious cycle

 

   FTV News (民視新聞), 2023-12-4: Taiwan's fertiity rate (birth rate 1.09) will rank world last in 2023。Housing price and  (commodity) prices rising a lot is the main cause.  tw.news.yahoo.com/2023台灣生育率全球最後1名-民眾-房價高不敢生-043103360.html

 

  Taiwan VS. world least affordable housing market

The Least Affordable Housing Market,   2023-9-29
visualcapitalist.com/mapping-housing-market-affordability/

RANK Metro. Market Median Multiple
(median house price / median household income)
1 Hong Kong, China    (most expensive) 18
  Taipei, Taiwan (2023 Q2 ) 15.5
2 Sydney, NSW, Australia 13.3
  New Taipei , Taiwan (2023 Q2) 12.9
3 Vancouver, BC, Canada  12.0
4 Honolulu 11.8
5 San Jose  11.5

 

   United Daily (聯合報), 2023-12-17: According to government's statistics, 80% of female aged 25~29 are bachelorette, 45 aged 30~34 are unmarried.  It is usually because the male (or they) can't afford buying a house.  Taiwan's divorce rate rose steadily, 34.75% couples divorced 5 years after being married.  The fertility of both male and female drop sharply.  According to study by Taipei medical university (台北醫學院)Taiwanese sperm reduce 1% for every 10 yearsThe fertility of Taiwanese female after age 33 fall sharply, but the average marriage-age of the female is 30.2.   Taiwan ranks world No.1 or 2 in terms of infertility - 1/7.  udn.com/news/story/7340/7646034?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2 楊志良


  China Times (中國時報) , 2023-12-2:
 According to government , Taiwanese need NT$ 24,574 monthly in average to keep body and soul togetherby contrast,  the average monthly labor pension is only bit more than NT$ 18,000This is a serious issue of Taiwan's labor system.


   United Daily (聯合報), 2023-7-10:  Taiwan's suicide rate ranks No.3 compared with OECD countries in 2022  (Taiwan is not a member of OECD) ; Taiwan's
Annual working hours (1910 hrs.) ranks world No.4   udn.com/news/story/121823/7289250?from=udn_ch2cate6643sub121823_pulldownmenu_v2

 

  Gallup's accompanying article, “Global Study Reveals Most Workers Enjoy What They Do”, Taiwan ranks No. 114 out of 122countries.  moderndiplomacy.eu/2022/11/10/122-countries-ranked-on-workplace-happiness/  2022-11-10

China Times ,  2023-12-3: The hidden debt is as high as NT$ 11 trillion, and is increasing at an average of more than NT$ 400 billions per year.  Because of Tsai Ing-wen government's inactive, it is estimated that the Labor Insurance Fund will go bankrupt in 2028, and the premiums paid by workers may never be recovered  chinatimes.com/opinion/20231202003281-262101?chdtv
 

  United Daily (聯合報),  2023-12-3:  The number of people diagnosed with depression in Taiwan has increased to 1.25 million, and one-fifth of the population cannot sleep at night unless taking sleeping pills. The number of Taiwanese suicide and self-harm aged 15 ~ 24 has increased from 1,000 in 2015 to 10,000 in recent years.  When people are depressed, domestic violence has reached to 120,000 cases, child abuse has reached more than 40 cases every day, elder abuse has exceeded 10,000 cases ... udn.com/news/story/7340/7614549?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2  楊志良 former the Minister of the Department of Health 

  

Yahoo, CTI, 2023-2-11:   law maker"joblessness and inflation are two major miseries".  tw.news.yahoo.com/台灣經濟真相-王鴻薇揭近2年-痛苦指數-蔡政府對人民視而不見-081733883.html#:~:text=王鴻薇指出:「失業和通貨,突破7%25大關。」

Taiwanesemisery index

Dec. 2022 Nov. 2022 Oct. 2022 Sept. 2022 Aug. 2022 July 2022
6.23 5.96 6.38 6.42 6.47 7.13

 

  China Daily , 2023-5-26: Taiwan people unhappy with DPP, polls show  Taiwan's residents are disillusioned with Tsai Ing-wen's performance and the DPP administration's reluctance to address important issues such as the income gap, affordable housing and unemployment. 73.9 percent of respondents are unhappy with the administration's approach toward narrowing the income gap.......The high cost of living, coupled with low wages and long working hours, has caused significant hardshipsAnother poll conducted by the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation, more than 50 percent of respondents do not want the DPP to remain in power. The DPP has not just wasted Taiwan people's hard-earned money but has also tried to push the region to the brink of war chinadaily.com.cn/a/202305/26/WS646fc82ea310b6054fad5234.html

 

  National Interest ,  2022-7-9:   Taiwan faces many internal problems. First, low wages and high housing costs are affecting the marriage rate and leading to decreases in fertility.    nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/why-china-cant-afford-attack-taiwan-203504

 

  VOAnews ,  2022-4-1: survey: More than 20% of Taiwanese under the age of 40 say they lack savings and 65% report they are in debt, only one-third of respondents said their income exceeds their expenses,... Some 41.8% of respondents said their debt was high enough that they felt economic pressure. Taiwan's rising housing costs have also made it difficult for young people...
Today, even small housing units in Taipei can command prices exceeding $1 million,...housing prices across six cities including Taipei rose more than 30% between 2019 and 2021.  Much of the inflated prices in housing is fueled by the long running problem of property speculation in Taiwan and very little social housing.    voanews.com/a/survey-shows-young-taiwanese-lack-savings-are-highly-indebted-/6510937.html

 

  United Daily 經濟日報, 2023-5-20: The price index of houses in Q4, 2022 reaches 127.5, which increases 28% since Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016The prices of pre-sale houses increase even much more ( 87% )  The young people cannot afford buying a house, therefore more and more choose not to get married and not to have baby.  udn.com/news/story/7338/7177628?    United Daily , 2023-5-20: The public worry Taiwan's economic future, the young people are at a loss about the price of houses and military draft. udn.com/news/story/7338/7177665?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2 

 

  SCMP, 2022-11-1: Taiwan’s fertility rate set to become world’s lowest by 2035. Taiwan's total fertility rate could drop to a historic low of 0.89 births per woman of a childbearing age this year, down from 0.98 in 2021 Over the pre-pandemic decade, Taiwanese... felt daunted by the cost of buying their first homes and spent time caring for their elders.  msn.com/en-xl/money/other/taiwan-s-fertility-rate-set-to-become-world-s-lowest-by-2035-as-ticking-demographic-time-bomb-grows-louder/ar-AA13BNZd

 

 

 

pic. : The web-site group was ranked No.1 "Taiwanese Happiness" on Bing, 2023-9-3

 

 

 


 

pic. : The web-site group

was ranked No.1

"Taiwanese Happiness" on Microsoft Bing,

2023-9-1, 2023-5-21, 2023-2-11, 2022-9-22, 2022-3-27, 2021-12-10, 2021-6-24, 1-9-2021;

No.2 at 2022-3-8, 2021-11-24 

 

  <China Times>  2023-2-13:  The birth rate of newborns in Taiwan hit a record low last year, and  long-term care issues etc in an aging society should not be ignored ... Few people would like to be a social worker...   chinatimes.com/opinion/20230212002513-262101?chdtv

 

  <China Times>  2023-5-20:  Inequality and economic recession of the common people and subaltern.   Differ from workers in high-tech industries, most salary earners struggle in low-salary and high price of house.   chinatimes.com/opinion/20230517005575-262101?chdtv

 

  <China Times> , editorial , 2023-5-21: When Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016, the house price-to-income ratio is  9.32, Mortgage Burden is 38.34%,the house price-to-income ratio in Q4 2022 is 9.61,Mortgage Burden is 40.25, showing an obvious upward trend.  As of April this year, the supply of new housing projects in the metropolitan area has decreased by about 10% compared with the same period last year, but prices have even continued to rise Given the low wages of young people in Taiwan, what kind of price and area "suits young people's ability" as Minister of Interior said? Single renters in Taipei spend an average of 35% of their monthly salary on renting a suite. How can they save some money to buy a house? The current unemployment rate among young people aged 25 to 29 is as high as 6.13%. Young people can't even find a job, let alone buying a house?   chinatimes.com/opinion/20230520003246-262101?chdtv

 

  United Daily 聯合報  2023-2-11: Deaths from poverty continually appeared in Taiwan, some economically disadvantaged hard to live a hand-to-mouth existence failed to meet government's social welfare standards, our social security net was worse than broken.  udn.com/news/story/7338/6964351?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2

 

  United Daily 聯合報  2023-5-8: The sense of powerlessness of the people of Taiwan - all kinds of misfortunes in society, such as judiciary, joblessness,  surveillance/monitors everywhere,  countless unjust cases and disputes ... look at those sufferings and hardships people should not experienced  udn.com/news/story/121823/7149361?from=udn_ch2cate6643sub121823_pulldownmenu_v2

 

  China Times 》editorial , 2022-4-27: misery index」1Q is up to 6.4%  chinatimes.com/opinion/20220426004891-262101?chdtv

 

★  <United Daily > editorial, 2022-4-15 (udn.com/news/story/7338/6240482?from=udn_ch2cate6643sub7338_pulldownmenu_v2):

misery index, Taiwan

yr. 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
misery index 4.38 5.06 4.29 3.62 5.94 6.92(Feb. )

 

★  <United Daily > editorial, 2022-3-27: In a seminar in National Cheng Kung University, 41% students chose to embrace  ‘Lying Flat’( lie around like a couch potato)...Soaring housing prices have become the biggest pain for young people...the real wage is pretty low...

 udn.com/news/story/7338/6194409?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2

 

<United Daily >, 2022-3-8: According to Academia Sinica, 56% husbands feel happy, 45% wives feel happy; Gov data: nearly half of young people, , particularly female, born between 1981 and 1990 are still single.    udn.com/news/story/7339/6147653?from=udn_ch2cate6643sub7339_pulldownmenu_v2

 

★  CIA   The World Fact Book (cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/total-fertility-rate/country-comparison), Japan Times, 2021-4-21: CIA estimates Taiwan's "Fertility Rate" in 2021 to be world's lowest.  Taiwan ranks No. 227, probably caused by many house-wives being busy in work as well as in household duties, according to Liberty Times 2021-4-20.  Japan ranks 218,  China 185, Singapore 225.

 

<United Daily >, 2022-10-10:  More than 50% of the public are dissatisfied with cross-strait relations; low wages is very serious problem.
The average salary of more than 27% of workers is less than NT$30,000,  only a few people enjoy the fruits of Taiwan's economic development.
 udn.com/news/story/123072/6674463?from=udn_ch2cate6638sub123072_pulldownmenu_v2

★  <United Daily >, 2022-1-1: Taiwanese children's death rate 4.5/1000 is much higher than those of Japan, Korea or OECD countries (average number: 1.9/1000)udn.com/news/story/7338/6001966?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2

  China Times, 中國時報 editorial , 2022-1-31 To solve the lowest birthrate (cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/total-fertility-rate/country-comparison), the first thing is to reduce the financial pressure of the common people; and the most important among all is housing prices or rent price.  However, the more new restrictions by the Central Bank to curb rising housing prices, the higher the housing prices rise.  chinatimes.com/opinion/20220129003035-262101?chdtv

 

★  《China Times 中國時報》 , 2021-11-24 People seem to living in a pressure cooker, there is no way out of pain and depression, social violence is increasing day by day,  the increasing suicide rate reflects people's desperation or hopelessness in life.  Senior officials don't even try to solve these issues.    chinatimes.com/opinion/20211123004533-262101?chdtv

★  《China Times Databse , 2021-11-24Recently, Taiwan's society is filled with disorder and violent killing, social security is bad...  (近來社會充滿失序與暴力殺戮,治安敗壞) chinatimes.com/opinion/20211123004792-262104?chdtv

 

STATISTA, 2021-11-24 (statista.com/statistics/1078824/taiwan-crude-divorce-rate/): The crude divorce rate of Taiwan stood at 2.19 couples per 1,000 population in 2020. The divorce rate peaked at 2.51 couples per 1,000 population in 2010. The total number of divorce registrations in Taiwan decreased to around 51.7 thousand in 2020 
 TAIWANnews, 2020-7-11:
  One-third of Taiwanese divorces take place within 5 years of marriage, setting a new decade high,  The average duration of the marriages of the couples divorcing last year was 8.17 years, (taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3964637
 

     en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divorce_demography    2021-11-28

country of Asia & Pacific crude Divorce Rate ranks
Sri Lanka 0.15 1
Vietnam 0.4 2
UAE 0.7 3
Mongolia 1.1 4
Qatar 1.1 4
Thailand 1.4 6
Malaysia 1.6 7
Japan  1.7 8
Singapore 1.9 9
Australia 2.0 10
New Zealand 2.0 10
Saudi Arabia 2.1 12
S. Korea  2.2 13
Taiwan 2.3 14
mainland China 3.4 15

 

★  《China Times 中國時報》 , 2021-8-19:  Housing price in entire Taiwan is rising "crazily", particularly, Taipei city, New Taipei city, HsinChu city (新竹市) hit  top ever。 Young people are facing fear and great pain.  chinatimes.com/opinion/20210818003931-262104?chdtv

United Daily, Economy Daily (經濟日報) , 2021-7-15, editorial: Low interest rate keeps rising housing price.   5.66% yearly growth runs faster than the growth of rate of retail price and growth of salary, deeply influence the marriage willing of youngster generation.   udn.com/news/story/7338/5602301?from=udn-relatednews_ch2

★  <聯合報 The United Daily>, 2021-3-27:  430 thousands old senior citizens were pinned in old apartments without an elevator, therefore are hard to get downstairs and walk out,  the number includes not those elderly people in townhouse or row house(透天厝)。A retired professor complained this and may do a "fake divorce" so as to apply for a "social housing" ("Council House") 。Many middle-class people have only a house but no cash in the pocket, how can they deal with illness and something unexpected?   brief  udn.com/news/story/7338/5347006?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2

  United Daily》, 2021-6-17:  udn.com/news/story/7340/5537697?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2  Medical expert 楊志良 project found out:  under the circumstances of low salary and high housing price, it will be less and less marriages and children born。

★  《China Times 中國時報》 , 2021-4-18, opinionYoung couples are not willing to and do not dare to have baby - the crucial factor: high housing price.    chinatimes.com/opinion/20210417003637-262101?chdtv

The China Times,  2021-3-30: Taipei youth unemployment rate 9.3% in 2020,7.7% in 2019, not to mention other cities and towns. chinatimes.com/opinion/20210330002865-262103?chdtv

★  <聯合報 The United Daily>, 2021-3-29:  The government knew "aged persons were trapped in old house" but did nothing.  Social housing for the elderly people actually are only for “top of the pyramid”, nothing for “middle of the pyramid”, general social housing is used to gain youngster's votes.  The sadness is old people's brain, body and pocket can not afford finding an appropriate place to live or kept moving from one place to another. Taiwanese landlord always rejects aged persons.  brief  udn.com/news/story/7339/5350247?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2

 

★  <Apple Daily>, 3-6-2021:  tw.appledaily.com/headline/20210306/HJMLA6LWAJGABED753Y4ZNFOHU/
In 2020, 122,000 couples got married, nearly 52,000 couples divorced,the divorce rate of couples married 10+ years is up to 43.4%

 

★  The Apple Daily, editorial, Dec. 9, 2020
     
Rising housing price recently will make the rich are richer, but those youngsters struggling minimum wage even do not dare to have housing dream... today's Taiwan has been polarizing the differences between the rich and poor, the middle class is moving downward, not to mention the situation of service industry's furlough and being jobless is getting worse and worse.   tw.appledaily.com/headline/20201209/KPGCQUPML5FAXIRHL3ZDRXXPGY/

 

《United Daily - Economy Daily》editorial,  Dec. 7, 2020 : Taipei's housing price is about triple that of Tokyo or Singapore.   https://udn.com/news/story/7338/5071620

Ratio of house price to income Low interest rate environment is core factor to
drive Taiwan's housing price higher and higher

 

The

"Ratio of house price to income" of Taipei, 14.39,
means you should eat & drink nothing for 14.39 years
 to buy a house
in Taipei
 Taiwan 8.66
Taipei (Taiwan) 14.39
Kao-hsiung (Taiwan) 7.27
Tokyo (Japan) 5
Singapore 4.5

 

★  <The United Daily>, 6-29-2020:   Has President seen the sadness of old people living alone ?

https://udn.com/news/story/7339/4665441?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2
      30.7% Taiwanese elderly live alone,  or just live with spouse, or care-giver
   「 Social security network 」includes no the elderly living alone, 「long-term care system」 services are limited and the quality varies,
     Less than 20% elderly living alone were on govt. profile to be care.
      /  聯合報 / 羅品善

The China Times, editorial; The hardship of Taiwanese youngsters   20:03  2020/07/12  言論 主筆室
       income differential (五等分法) : The highest level is about 6+ times the lowest level, which worsen the number, 4~5 , in earlier years

<The United Daily>, headline news, 12-7-2019
     
Word of the year 2019 in Taiwan is "chaos", No.2 is "lie" (cheating) , No.3 is "worry".

 

 

            

pic. left: The web-site group was ranked No.1 "Taiwanese Happiness" on Yahoo, 2021-12-10,  2021-6-24,  No.2 at 2021-11-24 pic. right:  No.3 "Taiwanese Happiness" on Baidu, 2021-6-24,

 

 

pic. above: The website-group was ranked No.1 "Taiwanese Happiness"  
on
Bing, 2021-6-23, 1-4-2021, 6-29-2020, 11-5-2019;

No.1 "Taiwanese Happiness"  on  MetaGER.de of Europe,
11-5-2019

 

pic. above: No.4 "Taiwanese Happiness" on US Google, 11-5-2019

 

 

 

★  <The United Daily>, 8-26-2019:  <名人堂> 楊志良: "The gap between the poor and the rich became largest ever !"

★  <中國時報 The China Times>, editorial opinion, 10-4-2019:  The productivity of those consumer goods (lifestyle) industries (such as general business, wholesales, retail, food, logistics/distribution, cosmetology & hair salon, early childhood care, hotel, etc industries with low salary and dark future ) most Taiwanese people work on is pretty low in general; in contrast, the new rich in Computer and  electronics industries lead a great life,this leads to an unstable society

★  <The United Daily>, <CTS> news, 2-20-2019

pic.: Taiwanese workers stuck at the same real salaries (wages) as 17 years ago for inflation of all prices/ UDN 2-20-2019
 PS: CTS news 2-20-2019: Nearly 90% Taiwanese workers complained about their low salaries.  

★  <自由時報 The Liberty Times>, summer 2019

        young worker with low pay , yearly growth NT400-600 (2018: aged 20-24 , NT27783, 2017: NT26904, 2012: 23737)

 

★  <The United Daily>, headline news, 6-10-2019

       The number of elderly citizens being abused is 300% larger than that 10 years ago, a horrible find-out !   The number is just a tip of a big iceberg !   Most of those aged people suffering domestic violence chose not to speak out ...

 

《United Daily 》Taiwan,  8-26-2019,  headline news   "can't afford buying a house, salary remains, no solutions yet  since 1989"

 

 

 

 

 

 

  pic.: UDN, headline news, 8-26-2019: still can't afford a house, salary remains the same as 30 yrs ago

★  <聯合報 The United Daily>, 10-25-2019: Kaohsiung city mayor (韓國瑜): People of four classes (farmers, fishermen, plebs, labor-men) lead a good life, the whole Taiwan will be happy (四種人 農勞工庶民過好  全台快樂)

 

★  UDN group's Economic Daily (經濟日報) survey of 2019 shows at 11-20-2019 that <Happiness Index> of Taiwanese  ―   No.1 Taipei, No.2 Hsin-Chu, No.3 Tao-yuan, No.4 TaiNan.

★  <The New York Times>, 2-27-2018

★     Taiwanese are "in a near panic" over shortage of tissue paper, which highlights high price sensitivity, Taiwanese wages stagnated for years, but housing prices went up. (brief) 

《The Economist Intelligence Unit》, UK
     
Taipei ranks No. 58 in the 2018 survey "The world's most livable cities".  
       "The 2017 global least and most stressful cities rankings" shows Taiwan's "gender equality" No.113, "race equality" No. 78, "green space" No. 115, "social security" No.140,  "physical health" No.15, "mental health" No. 96, "air pollution" No. 92, "noise pollution" No.110,  "Density", No. 127, "public transport" No.2,  "Debt per Capita" No. 43, etc.  ref to
https://www.zipjet.co.uk/2017-stressful-cities-ranking,《聯合報》, 10-3-2018

★  <The United Daily>, 2-8/9-2018, <Apple Daily>, 2-9-2018

         Taiwan government (including local gov.) has not well taken its fundamental responsibility of protecting the safety of people's life and property -

       ● why are there so many tall buildings located on the fault-zone?

       ● why are poor architectures everywhere on bad geologic grounds ?

       ● why are those shit-hole politicians doing nothing and ignoring urban renewal so as to risk millions of old houses and human beings ?? 

★  《 Apple Daily 蘋果日報》opinion, , 3-16-2018,  <World Happiness Report>, 3-14-2018   http://worldhappiness.report/ed/2018/  (UN)

        ADN opinion : " How come can Taiwan be a country of happiness ?"  (台灣怎麼會是快樂國度?), "but that  <World Happiness Report> is only half-blind,  because of its 6 key variables to support well-being: income, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, trust and generosity."

           World Happiness Report  : Taiwan ranks No. 26 country of happiness,   No. 38 immigration country...

★  <The China Times>, 4-7-2017

       39.5% Taiwanese people felt blue (Melancholy)1-2 days per week,    39.2 1- days,  21.3% felt blue 3-7 days per week  ;  Only16.8% won't hide their disease  / 董氏基金會研究.

★ Apple Daily》Taiwan,  4-18-2017   headline news

        It's the hardest time in Taiwan's history to buy a house... 40% monthly salary for loan/mortgage.

《The Liberty Times》Taiwan, 2-24-2017  

        Keep eating nothing and drinking nothing for 33+ years to buy a new house in Taipei !    Taipei's  Ratio of House Price to Income  is 33.3 times, New Taipei city is 20.25.

★  tv.ifeng凤凰视频

<United Daily news 聯合報>,《The Liberty Times》Taiwan, 2-25-2017

      Taiwanese employee's real wages (average monthly) of last year is lower than that of 16 years ago.   The average number of  the real wages of about 70% employee is less than NT40000, 36.72% is less than NT30000.  The youth's low salary is a serious problem, jobless rate is still high.  

<United Daily news聯合報>, head page, 12-10-2016

      The word of 2016 selected is "" ("hardship", "pain").  ps: The word of 2008 till now respectively is : 2008「亂」(mess)、2009「盼」(long for)、2010「淡」(thin; pale)、2011「讚」(good)、2012「憂」(worry)、2013「假」(fake)、2014「黑」(black) and 2015「換」(change).   http://udn.com/news/story/1/2158738

<CTS HD>, 5-23-2016 1:25pm, "華視新聞雜誌"
 
 
    17 million Taiwanese people ( totally 23 million population) live in "potential danger" (潛在危險) houses, according to <遠見>study, Taiwanese people gave a "failure" score (53.5) on "living safety".

<the Liberty Times自由時報>, 5-4-2016
     "
Misery!  the starting monthly salary (NT27,655, about USD900) of college students is lower than that (NT28,016 about USD900+) of 16 years ago", according to governmental statistics.

<the Liberty Times自由時報>, 5-4-2016

A survey found Taiwanese mother's "happiness index" is "D" score (68) for economic burden, supports from partner and relatives are not enough, etc.

<United Daily news 聯合報>, 3-28-2016  Government becomes the exploiter!   

UDN poll found 89% Taiwanese agree the gap/disparity between rich and poor is serious, only 7% disagree.  63% Taiwanese agree social injustice/inequality.  The youth are confused where the opportunity is, the labor groups scream social injustice is from bad to worse...    

<United Daily news>, 4-28-2016 
J.P. Morgan survey found Taiwanese " Happiness Index after retirement" is an almost "Failure" score.

 

CTV , 3-14-2016  21:29,  China Times, 4-28-2015

One Taiwanese got Karoshi (died from overwork) per 10 days in average.  Taiwan is an island of slave workers - Taiwanese salary low, long working hours ranks world No. 3, estimate Taiwanese work 3 months more than Germany per year...

<Lloyd's >, 9-17-2015

 Lloyd's City Risk Index 2015-2025 analyses the potential impact on the economic output (GDP risk) of 301 of the world's major cities, Taipei was ranked world No.1 - within the next 10 years, Taipei is estimated to loss 45% of GDP, about USD18120 billion, 44.78% of them is for typhoons, 16.38% earthquakes, 15.77% (global) financial markets are volatile .  


<the Liberty Times>, 8-4-2015

Keep eating and drinking nothing for 16+ years to buy a house in Taipei !

5 major cities' (Taipei, New Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiiung ) the Ratio of House Price to Income and house load affordability rate (房貸負擔率) all reach new high since Taiwan's first-time survey being conducted in 2002.  Besides, Taiwanese payroll (compensation level薪資) retreated, so it's even harder (higher misery index) for citizens to buy a house.

Ratio of House Price to Income (times) and house load affordability rate (%) of major cities in Qtr.1, 2015 : Taipei 16.16, 68.63,  New Taipei City 12.78, 55.27, Taoyuan 7.17, 30.44, TaiChung 8.53,36.22 ,TaiNan 6.69, 28.42, Kaohsiung 7.88, 33.46, all these are higher than the number published in 5-12-2015.
 

Asian City  the Ratio of House Price to Income
Hong Kong(Chn) 17
Taipei (Taiwan) 16.16
New Taipei City (Taiwan) 13.02
Tokyo(Japan) 11.79
Seoul首爾(Korea) 7.85
source: annual Demographia International Housing Affordability


★  UBS, Swiss,     9-18-2015

     In UBS's "most expensive cities" report, Taipei was ranked No. 26. -  but No. 42 in the report of last time.

<the Liberty Times自由時報>, 8-5-2015

       According to latest survey, Taiwanese fathers work so hard that 76% of them prefer escaping from working field back home for a rest.  Some other findings include, in average 2.4 days for overtime-working per week,  43% of them don't have any pocket  money to spend,  each week only 2.9 days they can have dinner together with their children.


The China Times, 10-12-2015

        Taipei's High house price led to extremely low (超低) fertility rate in Taiwan.


The China Times, 9-21-2015

        Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan, R.O.C.  published rankings of OECD (2015), Taiwan's environmental quality was ranked No.35 within 37 countries, Taiwan's air pollution index, particulate matter - PM10 being up to 41 ug/m3, already was ranked No. 36 for consecutively 2 years.   Besides, a drinking water survey conducted by Taiwan's government last year found 57.2% of Taiwanese complained their water smelling stinky, or/and like liquid-medicine, 54.1% complained water containing precipitate, impurity and something else, 29.1% complained bad taste,  22.3% complained their water with color or turbidity,  5.6% don't even trust water quality.

United Daily News, 12-9-2015 headline

      GermanWatch global climate change performance index published a comparison of the 58 top CO2 emitting nations, Taiwan was ranked 52th among 58 in the list.

Taipei Times, 3-20-2015

         Fulbright foreign academic : Taiwanese are depressed ...

         At the Fulbright Association's 37th Annual Conference in Taipei, a foreign academic asked Taiwan president Ma's opinion on what was causing the men (Chinese "悶" means "depressed" and "unhappy", the academic said it "a feeling of stagnation, or having no way forward") which many Taiwanese said they were feeling.   Ma's remarks ( he did not know of "such a widespread phenomenon”and so on) provoked criticism: Taiwanese government policies continue to favor large corporations, while workers' wages have regressed to the same level as 1999, people have evidently had enough, which led to last year's mass protests and the storming of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.   (brief of report)

<the Liberty Times自由時報>, 12-7-2015

      Taiwanese government policy, NT22000 monthly salary's Anchoring Effect, resulted in youth income retreated about 18 years -  average salary of youth aged less than 39 is bit less than that of youth around 1999.


 

Liberty Times, 3-23-2015

Who depressed Taiwanese?  (台灣的悶是誰造成的?)

Taiwan's economy dependency (policy inclination) on communist China,  domestic industrial inanition/ hollowing-out, salary going back, losing working opportunity, commodity prices having gone up (inflation of prices), huge state government debt, people can not afford buying house, can not afford having marriage and children,  young generation becoming poor people, disparity between rich and poor became larger ...   http://talk.ltn.com.tw/article/paper/865349   (brief)

United Daily News, 3-21-2015

      We're all really depressed and unhappy ! (誰很悶?我們真的都很悶 ! )

        (1) Can't afford housing by our salary (2) Lousy administrative efficiency and legislative efficiency (3) Lousy quality of entertainment (4) Unclear nation's positioning (5) Politicians of both sides dish the dirt about each other (6) Bad prosecutors and judiciary system, too many vultures and not-real-world judges/bad prosecutors ... (7) Food scandals    
              by
Chang 張瑞雄/台北商業大學校長 http://udn.com/news/story/7339/779404-%E8%AA%B0%E5%BE%88%E6%82%B6%EF%BC%9F%E6%88%91%E5%80%91%E7%9C%9F%E7%9A%84%E9%83%BD%E5%BE%88%E6%82%B6 (brief )


United Daily News, 4-25-2015  Eat & drink nothing, See & hear no evil, Taiwanese feel happy this way?
      
(不吃不喝、不看不聽 台灣人這樣快樂an editorial critique questioning & responding to TW's ranking no. 38 in UN survey on happiness / critic 孫亦文

        ... Only if you had nothing breakfast containing animal drugs more than maximal residue allowed or virus/germs (Escherichia coli),  tea drink with over-limited-of-detection pesticide,  mineral water made by (under)ground-water, Illegal import of banned (suspiciously polluted) food products from Japan... moreover, if you don't care politics, don't watch TV news ... most important of all, if you win a lottery, that will be the happiest thing ! Who said Taiwanese are unhappy?   details pls. ref. to  http://udn.com/news/story/7339/861333-%E4%B8%8D%E5%90%83%E4%B8%8D%E5%96%9D%E3%80%81%E4%B8%8D%E7%9C%8B%E4%B8%8D%E8%81%BD-%E5%8F%B0%E7%81%A3%E4%BA%BA%E9%80%99%E6%A8%A3%E5%BF%AB%E6%A8%82%EF%BC%9F


 Liberty Times, 4-1-2015

     According to a survey conducted by John Tung Foundation (董氏基金會), every 1 out of 4 or 5 university students are obviously depressed (PS: melancholia).


United Daily News,  June 5, 2014  (Living edition A6)
        1/3 Taiwanese feel unhappy according to a local survey.   (MD suggests having Vitamin C, fruits/vegetables to help emotional stability)
(brief )

CTV(<中視>), 4-3-2015  evening news, 19:22pm

      A survey concerning Happiness found that 30% Taiwanese children only have less than 3 days per week to eating together with their parents, nearly 25% children are not satisfied at current situation... ("不滿現狀").

United Daily News, 5-22-2015

        According to a survey conducted by John Tung Foundation (董氏基金會), about every 1 out of 2 Taiwanese women is physically unhappy (身體不快樂) ...

The China Times, 8-3-2014

       Taiwan's Happiness Index Top, Taiwanese said "No Way !"

       According to Taiwanese Happiness Index published by Taiwan's government, Taiwan ranked the 18th in 37 countries joining the poll. 

       This report provoked Taiwanese people criticisms: "Is it possible ? happiness? No way !" (「怎麼可能幸福?」), "Totally phony survey" (根本是「編來被罵的」).   http://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20140830000346-260102   (brief )


★ 
Apple Daily , 9-4-2014「台灣女性性生活滿意度調查」), about 80% unmarried female are not satisfied about their sexual life, nearly 40% Taiwanese women are not satisfied their sexual life. 


★ 
CNA
Central News Agency, Taiwan (<中央社>  March 8, 2012

           For this national Women's Day,  DPP legislative members in a press conference listed Taiwan's 5 problems leading to Taiwanese women's unhappiness ―  reduced income, food (birds-flu chickens, Paylean beef, etc) may get illness, unequal pay for female ( salary 17.6% less for same work by the male), workplace not comfortable (  female victims accounted for 97.15% of all sexual harassment cases ) , difficult to get promotion ( women only 1/4 of high-end civil servants/officials  ).


★ 
Satisfaction with Life Index

         Satisfaction Index  -  International ranking 2006 : Taiwan No.68;
         Singapore No. 53,    Hong Kong No. 63,     China No. 82;
         top 3 nations are Denmark, Swiss, Austria,  The US No. 23.

         The Satisfaction with Life Index was created by Adrian G. White, an analytic social psychologist at the University of Leicester, using data from a metastudy. It is an attempt to show life satisfaction in different nations.

         In this calculation, subjective well being correlates most strongly with health (.7), wealth (.6), and access to basic education

         This is an example of directly measuring happiness—asking people how happy they are—as an alternative to traditional measures of policy success such as GDP or GNP. Some studies suggest that happiness can be measured effectively. 
         This Index, however, is not solely based on directly asking "how people feel", but also on its social and economic development

  

Happy Planet Index (HPI) ―  New Economics Foundation (NEF)

        Taiwan ranks world No. 84, score 43.41 , China ranks No. 31, score 55.99 in 2006

        The Happy Planet Index (HPI) is an index of human well-being and environmental impact that was introduced by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) in July 2006. The index is weighted to give progressively higher scores to nations with lower ecological footprints.

★  The World Happiness Report   ―    the United Nations

         In 2013, Taiwan ranks the 42th (score 6.221), South Korea ranks 41th (6.267), Singapore 30th (6.546), US 17th (7.082);

         Denmark, Norway, Swiss, Holland, Sweden are top 5,    China is not included in the list.

         The World Happiness Report is a measure of happiness published by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The report is edited by Professor John F. Helliwell, of the University of British Columbia and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research; Lord Richard Layard, Director of the Well-Being Programme at LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance; and Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, Director of the SDSN, and Special Advisor to the UN Secretary General...

Apple Daily (<蘋果日報>) ,  11-29-2012   "Taiwan is not happy !"   (Politics edition, by 余艾苔)

    All index scores of Taiwanese happiness fell, according to the 4th QTR survey conducted by <遠見>, in that paper, most Taiwanese people are not happy, and pessimistic about our society...

China Post, 4-6-2012

       According to the World Happiness Report conducted by the Earth Institute (EI) of Columbia University, entrusted by the United Nations General Assembly, Taiwan ranks 46th happiest country in the world.

         EI revealed that happiness could not simply be achieved by acquiring monetary wealth. Instead, at a national level, happiness — or well-being (幸福) — is built on an array of factors, including political freedom, strong social networks and an absence of corruption.   On the individual level, having strong mental and physical health, trustworthy relationships, job security, and stable families are all crucial factors that contribute to personal happiness.    http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2012/04/06/336929/Taiwan-ranks.htm

★  2011 DPP opinion polls  <the Liberty Times>, Taiwan, May 8, 2011  ( Mother's Day )

   54.9% female (age 20-49) : Taiwanese mother are not happy.
  
details
    (1) Taiwanese mother "kind (bit) unhappy" : 34.5%
    (2) "very unhappy": 20.4%
    (3) "kind (bit) happy" : 33.9%
    (4) "very happy" : 7.4%
    (5) Not willing to have baby at present :
87.3%  ―  reasons include having enough kid(s), economic burden,  not married yet,  cannot have baby for age or health etc,  not willing to give birth, living environment not good ...(brief )

★   ECA int'l  "the best place to reside"  ―  Not Taipei ranked behind !

     According to 2009 ECA International "the best place to reside",  Taipei ranked world No. 57,  Singapore ranked world No.1 ,  Asia's No. 2 and 3, Hong Kong, Tokyo, both ranked world No. 15.
 
       
Taipei ranked No.55 in 2010, Singapore still ranked world No. 1.

Taipei Times, 8-31-2013

       Index shows Taiwanese are moderately happy

         People in Taiwan enjoy a “moderate level” of happiness compared with their peers in nations in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), according to the national happiness index released by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) .  The results also showed Taiwan's material living conditions are better than its quality of life.


★ 
Apple Daily News, editorial ,  Sept. 23, 2011

        "National Sexual Prison "(「國立性煉獄」) :  What a shame on Taiwanese government ! 
 
        So many sexual harassment crimes , and sexual assault cases in Taiwan, ......  far more than the number reported by media, we can say Taiwan has already became a society hostile to the female Shame on all Taiwanese, particularly, shame on Taiwanese government......(brief )


★ 
2011  USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices, April 8, 2011

       Violence against women, including rape and domestic violence, remained a serious problem.
      (estimated that the total number of rape, spousal rape was 10 times the number reported to the police,


USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices,  2.27.2014

       Rape and Domestic Violence: The law criminalizes rape, including spousal rape, and domestic violence. Because victims were socially stigmatized, many did not report the crime, and the Ministry of Interior estimated that the total number of sexual assaults was 10 times the number reported to police.


★  French Reporters Sans Frontieres and US. Freedom House, 2014
    
 Paris-based <Reporters Sans Frontieres>: Taiwan’s ranking for press freedom fell three notches from last year.  Freedom House: Taiwan's media freedom declines again (BBC: declines for consecutive 3 years).

 

 Taiwan's poll, 2012 ~2013

According to 2013 survey (Dec. 10, 2013) conducted by The Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD ) & SHU that shows a "F" score (rating 2.7/5.0 points) on overall human rights status ―  in decline for a third consecutive year (judiciary, fair trials. non-corruption, communication privacy, health rights... all fail).  According to 2012 survey (Dec. 4, 2012) by the Taipei-based Chinese Association for Human Rights, 43.4% of the respondents rated Taiwan's overall performance in human rights protection this year as either “bad” or “very bad” , only 38 percent of Taiwanese held positive views on Taiwan's human rights of this year, which is far worse than 57 percent of last year... <Apple daily News> comments Taiwan's freedom of speech is in retreat, and scholars worry about Taiwan's democracy doesn't work well, <Taiwan News> uses the headline "Taiwan's human rights get thumbs-down in poll!"...

★   Foreign Policy, 2015      Taiwan Not democratic!

           In <Foreign Policy>, Taipei's new mayor Ko expressed "Does Taiwan have democracy? Real democracy means politics belongs to the people. Taiwanese politics belongs to corporations and is controlled by political parties."


★ 
Common Wealth Magazine,  6-29-2012     Scholar: It's a "Pass" score/grade.

         Taiwan Happiness Index 65.94 - A Middling Score on Happiness

   Closer analysis of the five main metrics comprising the index shows that Taiwanese feel happiest about "Family Life," which accounted for 16.65 points of the overall happiness score. That was followed, in descending order, by "Physical and Mental Health" (16.13 points), "Social Relations" (13.47 points) and "Employment Situation" (12.74 points), with the lowest score being "Political and Economic Climate" (6.95 points).