Are China’s Wages and Workers Better Off Than Taiwan? – Part II

This is Part two of a two-part series, “Are China’s Wages and Workers Better Off Than Taiwan?”

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Looking at the shiny and spanking new buildings in China’s top-tier cities, it may create an illusion that livelihoods in China are better than Taiwan. But in the first part  of this article, we saw that wages in China are in fact lower and more unequal than Taiwan, in spite of similar cost of living when including rent. In this second part, we further compare wages after tax, social security and housing costs, as well as other work conditions, to look at how else Taiwan fares relative to China.

The previous part of this article compares gross wages, but this article compares net wages to give a better sense of what it means for workers to live on. Below, we use median wage for comparison, as it shows how much a worker in the middle is earning, and is more reflective of the general situation for workers. China does not publish official median wage data, but Zhaopin (one of the largest job recruitment sites in China) did in 2024, based on wage data compiled from job advertisements on its site; and as also discussed in the previous part, Zhaopin’s wage data can be used as proxy due to its representativeness of China’s official data and onground reality.

Accordingly, Shanghai and Beijing’s gross median wages are comparable to Taiwan’s six municipalities and Hsinchu, and Shenzhen and Guangzhou are at the lower end (left chart below). However, after deducting for taxes and social security, the median wages in China’s top-tier cities are lower than Taiwan’s (right chart).

Data source: Taiwan, China. Note: Taiwan’s wage data provided at the city level is based on full-time work, the average wage data comprising all workers will be lower.

Generally, when wages are not proportionately returned to workers and are disproportionately retained as profits, the excessive profits tend to be channeled by the wealthy into housing speculation.

As discussed in the first part, China’s minimum wages are severely suppressed at only about 40% that of Taiwan among China’s top-tier cities, and the massive wage suppression has led to China’s housing prices growing disproportionately to levels as high as Taiwan; and given China’s lower household incomes (as also highlighted in the first part), means that China’s house price-to-income ratios are much higher than Taiwan – China’s housing prices are much more unaffordable than Taiwan.

Data source: Taiwan, China

Housing rents and mortgages in China’s top-tier cities are in fact mostly higher than Taiwan’s six municipalities and Hsinchu. (The housing mortgage for the chart on the right below is based on 80% of the median/average housing price to estimate amounts a single person may need to spend on a mortgage.)

Data source: Taiwan (rent, mortgage),China. Note: The housing mortgage is calculated based on a 20% downpayment, for monthly mortgage payments over 30 years, and at the prevailing interest rates for each country. The housing mortgage is based on a house price of 80% of the median/average house price for each city, to estimate for the buying needs of a single person.

Given China’s excessive rents and mortgage relative to income, after deducting rents and mortgage, China’s workers are worse off than Taiwan.

Taiwan’s cities to the south have lower median wages than the north, but rents are not that much lower, so after deducting for rent, there may only be about NT$30,000 left and just enough for basic necessities. However, it would be even tighter for workers in China’s top-tier cities (left chart below).

Taiwan’s northern cities have higher wages due to the concentration of corporate headquarters and high-tech jobs, but housing prices are also much higher, so after deducting for mortgage, workers may barely have enough for food, let alone basic necessities. But for China’s workers, they will likely go into debt and have nothing left to spend on other things – if they choose to buy a house (right chart).

(Of note, part of the social security deducted from the wages of China’s workers go into a Housing Provident Fund which can be used to cover rent or mortgage, but even so they cover only a proportion of the costs, and cannot cover the costs for life, meaning net median wages in China after the inclusion of payments from the Housing Provident Fund would still be lower than that of Taiwan’s six municipalities and Hsinchu. Also, not all workers have a Housing Provident Fund, such as rural or lower-income workers at small businesses.)

For workers on minimum wage, it’s even worse for China’s workers. Due to the high rents, workers on minimum wage in China’s top-tier cities would have almost nothing left for basic necessities, while workers in Taiwan should still have enough for the most basic standard of living (left chart below).

If accounting for mortgage, Taiwan’s workers would have barely enough for food, or not even enough for food in the north. However, in China, workers on minimum wage would not even be able to buy their own homes at all (right chart).

Data source: Taiwan, China

Of note, the calculations used for rent and mortgage for minimum wage workers are based on 60% of average rent and mortgage, for an estimation on the lower end (charts below) – but this is also assuming that it is possible to find such readily available low rents, and whether the accommodation is proper enough for decent living could also be in question.

For China’s workers on minimum wage, they would have to stay in company dormitories or live in subpar and indecent housing, if they are to have enough to spend on food and other basic necessities.

But China’s wages are even lower when we account for working hours. China’s average work hours are much longer – at 48.6 hours a week compared to Taiwan’s 41.5 hours.

Dividing by work hours, the median wages in China’s top-tier cities are lower than Taiwan’s six municipalities and Hsinchu. Net wages will be even lower.

China’s workers have to work much longer hours and more overtime to earn the same pay as Taiwan’s workers.

Data source: Taiwan, China

When comparing work conditions, new workers in Taiwan are also better off, though for older workers, it varies.

For workers who have worked for a year, China’s workers have fewer days of paid leave and paid holidays than Taiwan – China’s workers have only 5 days of paid leave while Taiwan’s workers have 7 days. In 2026, China has only 13 days of paid holidays while Taiwan has 16 days (left chart below). However, China’s workers who have worked 20 years or more can have 15 days of paid leave, and while workers in Taiwan who have worked 10 years or more can receive 30 days of paid leave, this is only confined to those working at the same company and will restart at 3 days upon changing companies. So, if a worker in Taiwan who has worked for 20 years starts a job in a new company, he or she would only have 3 days of paid leave compared to 15 days for the same worker in China.

For paid sick leave, China provides more paid sick leave than Taiwan – of three months compared to one month for Taiwan (right chart). Also, workers in China who have worked for 20 years including 15 years with the same employer can have 12 months of paid sick leave, but it remains at only one month for the same worker in Taiwan. Additionally, Taiwan’s sick leave pay is a fixed 50% of regular wage, but it is higher in China. In Shanghai, workers with less than 2 years of employment in the same company receives 60% of regular wage and this increases to 100% for those with more than 8 years of tenure, though for workers who have taken more than 6 months of sick leave, the sick leave pay is reduced to 40% of regular wage for those with less than a year of experience and 60% for those with over 3 years of experience.

Nonetheless, Taiwan allows workers to take hospitalization leave of up to one year within a two-year period, and workers are able to claim 50% of their insurance salary for up to six months.

Data source: Taiwan (annual leave, public holiday, sick leave), China (annual leave, public holiday, sick leave)

For maternity leave, female employees in Taiwan have eight weeks (56 days) of paid maternity leave, up to six months of paid parental leave which can be taken before the child reaches three (which can be shared by her spouse), and 7 days of paid leave for pregnancy checkup – the maternity and pregnancy checkup leaves are fully paid while parental leave is 80% paid (left chart below).

In China, there are 98 days of paid maternity leave at the national level while the provinces provide additional paid leave, comprising an additional 68 days in Beijing and Shanghai for example, and these two cities also provide an additional 5 days of parental leave for childcare until the child reaches 3 years old – all the leaves are fully paid. For prenatal checkups, China doesn’t place a limit on the number of checkups and these are fully paid as well.

For male employees, Taiwan provides 7 days of fully-paid paternity leave and up to six months of paid parental leave shared by the spouse which is 80% paid (right chart).

In China, it varies by region – Beijing provides 15 days of paid paternity leave while Shanghai provides 10 days, for example, and there’s also the 5 days of parental leave for fathers until the child reaches 3 years old – both of which are fully paid.

Accounting for parental leave, Taiwan’s paid leaves for parents are better than China, and fathers have it much better in Taiwan.

Data source: Taiwan, China

For unemployed workers, Taiwan’s workers can claim unemployment benefits of 60% of their average monthly salary in the six-month period before being unemployed, for six months, or for nine months if they are 45 years or older.

In China, this again depends on the region, and also, unemployment benefits are not based on actual salary but on the minimum wage. Workers in Beijing can claim at least 70% of minimum wage, it is about 84% in Shanghai and about 90% in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, but these rates may go up in some cities based on years of contribution into the unemployment insurance fund. Additionally, workers in China are able to claim these benefits for a longer duration – of up to 12 months for new workers or even 24 months for those with more years of contributions into the unemployment insurance fund.

Given that minimum wages in China’s top-tier cities are only about a fifth or a quarter of average wage, what an average worker claims in unemployment benefits for 24 months in China may be equivalent to that of an average worker in Taiwan claiming unemployment benefits for 6 months.

Data source: Taiwan, China (Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou)

In sum, China’s wages are generally worse off than Taiwan, especially when considering the similar consumer prices and lower housing affordability in China. Moreover, work conditions are not necessarily better – China’s workers have to work longer hours, and generally have fewer paid leave for parents.

Thus, it may not be surprising that the proportion of Taiwanese going to China to work has been declining, though there are also other political factors driving Taiwanese away from China.

Data source: National Statistics, R.O.C. (Taiwan)

As such, in spite of the shiny and spanking new buildings that make up the popular imaginations of China’s top-tier cities, the vast majority of China’s workers have greater difficulty making ends meet than workers in Taiwan due to their more inadequate wages and lower housing affordability – especially for the lower- and middle-income workers in China. Nonetheless, Taiwan’s government needs to do more to raise wage adequacy especially for the low- and lower-middle income, and to the south of Taiwan, as well as ensure greater housing affordability.

For new workers, general work conditions in Taiwan are also better as workers have more paid annual leave and holidays, though the situation can be improved for older workers – to ensure that their paid leave is not reduced after changing companies. Taiwan should also enhance the number and compensation of paid sick leave and maternity leave for workers.

There may be a misconception that China’s economic conditions are better than Taiwan, but when we compare the data, Taiwan’s workers are still better off than China. Moreover, living in a democracy enables Taiwan’s workers to better address violations that occur. Workers in China have been known to be suppressed and beaten by the authorities when they protest against the violations but in Taiwan, the government is more likely to step in to help workers mediate according to the law.

Young Taiwanese would still remember the Chinese who protested the government across China’s cities during the “White Paper” protests three years ago and the harsh clampdown that followed, and the many unknown youths who were detained and disappeared.

(Featured photo by Zhengyang TIAN on Pexels)