臺灣階級不平等擴大的原因與後果

CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF INCREASING CLASS INEQUALITY IN TAIWAN

本文回顧近二十年來臺灣階級不平等與階級流動的趨勢。研究顯示造成臺灣各階級所得不平等惡化的因素有二， 其一是產業升級造成技術工人與非技術工人薪資所得不平等上升； 其二是全球化下兩岸經貿擴張， 獲益者集中在少數資方與技術管理高層， 對財產所有者減稅更導致所得分配惡化。階級不平等惡化造成階級流動的停滯， 包括創業機會減少與教育階級複製。因此，多項指標顯示臺灣民眾主觀上開始覺得自己的階級地位向下流動、貧富差距越來越嚴重。據此， 反服貿運動確實反映部分民眾對全球化造成階級不平等惡化的不滿。

The paper reviews recent findings of class analysis in Taiwan. The studies find that income inequality among social classes has continuously increased, and point out two sources of the inequality: (1) industrial upgrading led to increasing wage inequality between skilled workers and unskilled workers; (2) the cross-strait open trade policy under the globalization context led to increasing income inequality between the employers plus some top managers who went to China for investment, and the local employees plus self-employed in Taiwan. The increasing class inequality also results in declining class mobility, shrinking subjective social status, and rising political discontent among middle- and lower- class people. The increasing class inequality may partially explain the emergence of the 2014 Sunflowermovement in Taiwan.