I am trying to get a feel for how far a US dollar goes in Taiwan. I would like to get some examples of typical hourly wages for common working class occupations. For instance, what does the average grocery store clerk make per hour? The average secretary? Is there a minimum wage in Taiwan? What does a loaf of bread cost, on average? A liter of milk? A liter of petro? I’d like to get an idea of what basic things cost and how much the working class earns.
Thank you.
[quote=“instrumentally”]I am trying to get a feel for how far a US dollar goes in Taiwan. I would like to get some examples of typical hourly wages for common working class occupations. For instance, what does the average grocery store clerk make per hour? The average secretary? Is there a minimum wage in Taiwan? What does a loaf of bread cost, on average? A liter of milk? A liter of petro? I’d like to get an idea of what basic things cost and how much the working class earns.
Thank you.[/quote]
Grocery store clerk NT 100 (+20/-5) per hour, depends the hour of the day. Night shift makes more.
Minimum wage worker NT 17500 per month (old people caregivers, mostly Indonesians).
Minimum wage worker NT 20000 per month (blue collars/factory workers, mostly Thais/Vietnamese/Filipino).
Average white collar makes NT 33000 per month (newbie up to Year 10), max at NT 40000 per month (local folks).
Average (foreign) teacher make NT 600-700 per hour (must be an English native speaker, Americans, British, Irish, South Africans, Australians, Canadians, NZers)
Average (foreign) professional (local degree) make minimum NT 33000 per month (required by law).
Average (foreign) professional (overseas degree) make minimum NT 47500 per month (required by law).
Loaf of bread (toast) NT 30 to 45 (depends on quality and place).
Loaf of bread (choco/cheese/flavored) NT 20 to NT 35 (depends on quality/place)
Sandwich NT 20 to 35 (depends on content, quality and place).
Liter of milk NT 70 (local brand).
Liter of milk NT 90 (foreign brand).
Liter of petrol -couldn’t give a shit, didn’t have car/scooter-
Conversion at the moment -> 1 USD = 33.69 NT
The price quotes for bread and sandwiches are way too low.
[quote=“instrumentally”]I am trying to get a feel for how far a US dollar goes in Taiwan. I would like to get some examples of typical hourly wages for common working class occupations. For instance, what does the average grocery store clerk make per hour? The average secretary? Is there a minimum wage in Taiwan? What does a loaf of bread cost, on average? A liter of milk? A liter of petro? I’d like to get an idea of what basic things cost and how much the working class earns.
Thank you.[/quote]
Most of these questions have nothing to do with how far the US dollar will go in Taiwan. Rent is cheap in Taiwan. Prepared food is cheap but usually uses shitty ingredients and/or health standards. You get what you pay for. Most foods (and petrol) are similar in price to the US unless you are buying locally grown and in season produce (a good idea). Healthcare is cheap compared to the western world (and especially the US). Blue collar labor is relatively cheap for things that you need to have done. For example, mechanics, locksmiths (10-15USD to unlock your apartment) and repairman are huge bargains compared to the US although the quality of work can be frustrating. There is a certain tendency to half ass repairs instead of doing it right the first time.
Right now many young college grads are making <30K TWD because they have no work skills and the job market kind of sucks in Taiwan (a lot of service industry jobs).