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creeper1
Joined: 24 Aug 2010
Posts: 481
Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan
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 Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 4:19 pm Post subject: Our wages compared to the locals.... |
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This little calculation allows you to work out how you are doing compared to local Chinese workers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17543356
I have to admit I am doing rather well. 
Ofcourse I am in Beijing and I am sure poorly paid factory wokers in Guangdong province bring down the average big time but nevertheless it worked as a pick-me-up today.
I thought I would share.
How did you do? |
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Zero
Joined: 08 Sep 2004
Posts: 1402
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 5:03 pm Post subject: |
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Chinese employers are fond of providing most compensation in the form of extras such as housing assistance, bonuses, "reimbursement" of expenses, meal cards, gift cards, etc. in order to keep nominal income low. Taxes are avoided that way. Additionally, Chinese families are -extremely- efficient about intergenerational wealth transfer. Add the fact that in the last couple of decades, many families have acquired an "extra" house as they lost land or houses to development projects -- the value of which will also be passed along to a younger generation.
You are not doing better than the locals. |
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naturegirl321
Joined: 04 May 2003
Posts: 9041
Location: home sweet home
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| Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 11:59 pm Post subject: |
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| Salary is just one part of the pay package, that's why you shouldn't believe employers or recruiters who tell you that you'll make double or triple what the locals do. |
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shadowrider
Joined: 05 Feb 2012
Posts: 208
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| Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 2:03 am Post subject: |
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| naturegirl321 wrote: |
| Salary is just one part of the pay package, that's why you shouldn't believe employers or recruiters who tell you that you'll make double or triple what the locals do. |
So is the little red hongbao envelopes we normally don't get... |
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MisterButtkins
Joined: 03 Oct 2009
Posts: 1221
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| Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 5:16 am Post subject: |
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| Not to mention that most of the people dragging the average salary down are peasants in the countryside, or people with menial jobs like construction workers or waitresses. When you toss those out, the FT is making considerably less than a typical middle-class city dweller. |
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wangdaning
Joined: 22 Jan 2008
Posts: 3154
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| Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 6:25 am Post subject: |
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| MisterButtkins wrote: |
| Not to mention that most of the people dragging the average salary down are peasants in the countryside, or people with menial jobs like construction workers or waitresses. When you toss those out, the FT is making considerably less than a typical middle-class city dweller. |
Except that is most people. Service workers make up nothing? Peasants make the food eaten and service workers serve it. You think Beijing is delivering the food to people? Does Hu Jintao cook? Where is my fried rice?
People in China are making far less than you think. Rich people in China have money. |
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twilothunder
Joined: 09 Dec 2011
Posts: 442
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| Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 7:27 am Post subject: |
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According to the GINI index (a widely accepted measure of distribution of income), China has even greater inequality (World Bank figures) than the US.*
There is serious wealth here, but I really think it's concentrated in the hands of not even 5%, but around 1% of the population overall.
The vast majority of Chinese are seriously poor.
*(I appreciate that things like average salary on that BBC site and the GINI index are difficult to reliably calculate in such a cash economy, but still...) |
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MisterButtkins
Joined: 03 Oct 2009
Posts: 1221
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| Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 10:10 am Post subject: |
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| wangdaning wrote: |
| MisterButtkins wrote: |
| Not to mention that most of the people dragging the average salary down are peasants in the countryside, or people with menial jobs like construction workers or waitresses. When you toss those out, the FT is making considerably less than a typical middle-class city dweller. |
Except that is most people. Service workers make up nothing? Peasants make the food eaten and service workers serve it. You think Beijing is delivering the food to people? Does Hu Jintao cook? Where is my fried rice?
People in China are making far less than you think. Rich people in China have money. |
Perhaps you are right. It is difficult to tell. I just saw a job advertisement offering 1000 RMB a month to restaurant workers. I saw similar advertisements in Guangzhou, which has very high per-capita income, for 1500 RMB/month. Median income and quartiles for income would be more informative. There's also the fact that, while most Chinese are putting money in the bank to buy a house or pay for junior's education, for younger FTs essentially the entire paycheck is disposable income. |
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Miles Smiles
Joined: 07 Jun 2010
Posts: 1294
Location: Heebee Jeebee
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| Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 11:31 am Post subject: |
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Uh, well, let's see. According to the BBC website, I am making about 50% more (in USD) than I'm really making if I use that website's conversion from rmb to dollars. Worse, its calculations puts me a hair below "World Average Wage" on the list of countries, but 222% higher than the Chinese average.
Real world conversion rates are quite a bit different if I use the XE conversion site: http://www.xe.com/ucc/
Has the BBC developed a collective brain tumor, or is one of Murdoch's moles working for it now?
Sorry, but I must declare that there is something seriously wrong with the website, and any supposed collected data is flawed, and therefore invalid.
And now a late-breaking NEWS FLASH : Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead. |
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MisterButtkins
Joined: 03 Oct 2009
Posts: 1221
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| Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 11:43 am Post subject: |
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