Staff Writer 2012-11-20 04:44 PM
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – One out of five Taiwanese, mostly young people, was depressed because of low wages, according to a survey published by the John Tung Foundation Tuesday.
Experts said the average starters’ wage of NT$22,000 (US$756) a month was causing young people to doubt they could ever save enough money to plan for the future, especially with prices rising and the economic crisis persisting without a clear improvement in sight.
The unemployed and people between the ages of 21 and 30 were the most susceptible to the possibility of depression, the survey found.
Up to 19.1 percent of the 5,000 respondents to the poll looked for psychiatric care to cure their depression, according to the John Tung Foundation. The three groups with the highest rates were the unemployed with 30.6 percent, farmers and fishermen with 26 percent, and professional home caregivers with 22.6 percent, according to foundation official Yeh Ya-hsin.
Young people below the age of thirty were the most depressed age group, with the problem diminishing the older respondents were, the survey said. With the economic crisis persisting and wages not only not rising but even falling, young people barely succeeded in earning enough to provide for themselves, let alone to prepare the future, Yeh said.
The young felt insecurity and a lack of direction, and when they saw comparisons to the wealthy and the successful, they would tend to become even more depressed because they didn’t understand how they could plan for the future, she said.
Over the past year, food and energy prices have tended to increase, while media often publish reports about the high cost of real estate, especially in cities like Taipei where most job opportunities are supposed to be found.
The foundation said people afraid of falling into depression should increase their physical activities, participate in sports, and regularly have their own moods and feelings checked.
To this end, the foundation said it had digitalized three standard written tests according to age and was relaunching them in the shape of apps for cell phones. Users could find the nearest aid facilities as well as practical advice and the most useful solutions for their state of mind, the foundation said.
Self-analysis by apps was only the first step, but members of the public needed to seek in professional psychiatric assistance to cure the problem, Yeh said.
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – One out of five Taiwanese, mostly young people, was depressed because of low wages, according to a survey published by the John Tung Foundation Tuesday.
Experts said the average starters’ wage of NT$22,000 (US$756) a month was causing young people to doubt they could ever save enough money to plan for the future, especially with prices rising and the economic crisis persisting without a clear improvement in sight.
The unemployed and people between the ages of 21 and 30 were the most susceptible to the possibility of depression, the survey found.
Up to 19.1 percent of the 5,000 respondents to the poll looked for psychiatric care to cure their depression, according to the John Tung Foundation. The three groups with the highest rates were the unemployed with 30.6 percent, farmers and fishermen with 26 percent, and professional home caregivers with 22.6 percent, according to foundation official Yeh Ya-hsin.
Young people below the age of thirty were the most depressed age group, with the problem diminishing the older respondents were, the survey said. With the economic crisis persisting and wages not only not rising but even falling, young people barely succeeded in earning enough to provide for themselves, let alone to prepare the future, Yeh said.
The young felt insecurity and a lack of direction, and when they saw comparisons to the wealthy and the successful, they would tend to become even more depressed because they didn’t understand how they could plan for the future, she said.
Over the past year, food and energy prices have tended to increase, while media often publish reports about the high cost of real estate, especially in cities like Taipei where most job opportunities are supposed to be found.
The foundation said people afraid of falling into depression should increase their physical activities, participate in sports, and regularly have their own moods and feelings checked.
To this end, the foundation said it had digitalized three standard written tests according to age and was relaunching them in the shape of apps for cell phones. Users could find the nearest aid facilities as well as practical advice and the most useful solutions for their state of mind, the foundation said.
Self-analysis by apps was only the first step, but members of the public needed to seek in professional psychiatric assistance to cure the problem, Yeh said.
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