Saturday, April 20, 2019

A Living Wage for Taiwan Middle School Students

     We did the Living Wage workshop, the eighth graders at Shengang Middle School . I was afraid, a few weeks ago when the thirty-two ESL conversation enrichment students were given the task of asking their parents to tell them their families' monthly expenses, to see how much they needed to earn to live without debt, that no one would actually go home and ask them, and I was right; no one did. But I played dumb and drew a chart on the whiteboard, anyway, for each student to write his or her family’s eight biggest expenditures, and two more lines for miscellaneous expenses such as pet supplies.
 On cue, the odd numbered groups went up en mass to write figures from their heads, from their friends’ heads, and any other notion to not be singled out. Meanwhile, I went around to the even-numbered tables and encouraged, sometimes cajoled them into action. Vincent, the school dean, was there to give me full support, even suggesting that a thirty ping (Taiwan measure, 1 ping = approx 35.58 sq. ft) apartment in Shengang rented for about 10,000 New Taiwan Dollars ($333 U.S.) a month, just to make sure the students had ballpark figures.
 It all worked out well. Most of the time I engaged the students in conversation, interpreting the figures and analyzing the data: “Rent is the largest monthly expense.” It took the full ninety minutes but it was a fast-paced expose of the cost of living and, finally, showed clearly how wages in Shengang were not high enough for a family of four to cover a good standard of living. The living wage the class came up with, based on the calculated average monthly family expenditure of 50,000 NT ($1,666 U.S.) for a legal standard forty-two hour a week full-time job wages (though most workers are pressured to give unpaid overtime) over four weeks, 168 hours, was about 300 NT per hour; the minimum wage in Taiwan is 140 NT an hour. Our living wage calculation didn’t take into account taxes and a recommended 10% of earnings saved. Granted, taxes are much lower here than in the U.S.; property taxes are almost non-existent. The living wage in Taipei, Taiwan's largest city where the living standard is highest, must be much higher than in the outlying area of Taichung where property value is lower.
It was the first time I did a living wage workshop in Taiwan. In retrospect, I don’t know what I waited for. Perhaps I knew parents wouldn’t be forthright with personal financial details, not with their children and certainly not with strangers. It seems the children didn’t bother to ask. The students knew this was no scientific survey, but one day, when they would need to make a budget, it will be nice to know how much they should be paid to meet their living standard. One day they will realize they are being exploited by their bosses and take action, maybe even ask for a raise; I’d be dreaming to think anyone in Taiwan would organize or start a union, but as Vincent pointed out, it is good for the children to realize how hard their parents work to support their families.  

     Everything we have done in class has led up to the Living Wage Workshop. A few months earlier, the children had done the "Haitian Family Budget" workshop to see how hard it is for impoverished underpaid workers to eke out a living; Taiwan's living standard is higher than Haiti's. I read and we discussed Fire at the Triangle Factory, by Holly Littlefield; the students were confronted with America's history of  unthinkable sweatshop conditions, not far removed from Taiwan's own.  I thought it was time the chickens came home to roost and we'd brainstorm "Living Wage" here, so I gave the children an assignment to ask their parents about common living expenses and waited to see how many would do so. Meanwhile,  we explored direct democracy, doing an opinion survey on "Energy and the Environment".  I was building up a case for direct action for the common good and to improve their English  practicing real-life skills. 



     The Living Wage Workshop is a perfect segue into the last phase of the 8th grade Bread & Roses Curriculum: activism. It explains clearly why students in Taiwan should become better at English skills; how they could change their lives, their community, Taiwan, and the world. The children have the power! Each group would brainstorm a problem and use direct action to tackle the problem for their final presentations, this in a middle school with twelve-year-olds. 
Copyright © 2019 by David Barry Temple. All rights reserved.