The Effect of Social Characteristics on the Income of Middle Class

• Main Authors: Ya-Yun Yang, 楊雅雲
• Other Authors: I-Chang Chow
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/69845171278662333158

碩士 === 逢甲大學 === 都市計畫所 === 98 === Middle class is the group that plays an important role in country development and it represents the social and economic characteristics of most people in our social structure. A stable middle class is good for economic development and social harmony. Some changes in our economic structure appear to contribute to influence the proportion of middle class. The definition of middle class is still ambiguous; however, the income distribution is widely used as the measurement of middle class. The income distribution of middle class is also observed for economic growth analysis. Moreover the income inequality will decrease the job opportunities and lower the wage level and consuming power, and then lead to the decline of middle class. Therefore the issues to see if the middle class is shrinking are highly regarded in recent years. This Study is mainly to discuss the effect of social characteristics on the income of middle class according to the result of Family Income and Expenditure Survey. In the first part of the thesis, the income of middle class is defined by three social characteristics, occupation, industry and education, which are most used in empirical studies. Then the hypothesis tests and three-way ANOVA are applied for examining the influence of the social characteristics on the income of middle class. Furthermore, this study is to explore the social class mobility through reviewing and analyzing the changes and influence on the social characteristics.