About 31.6 percent of employees under 40 in Taiwan indicated that they almost spent all the monthly salary they received, according to survey results released on Thursday.
Citing the survey, the yes123 job bank network said some young employees admitted they even had to overdraw their accounts to make ends meet.
Food, leisure and entertainment, the financial support for family members and educational expenses, transport, and rent, were among the top five categories for their expenses, according to the job bank.
About 74.8 percent of the employees who were polled said their current monthly salary was not sufficient to cover all their spending in life, the survey showed.
According to the job bank, due to the rising cost of living on the island, respondents believed they needed a salary hike of 9.8 percent, or about 3,800 new Taiwan dollars a month, to offset the increase in the cost of consumer products.
The cost of living in Taiwan rose this year largely because of higher food prices caused by damage from unfavorable weather conditions, including cold waves and typhoons. Taiwan's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, was up 1.27 percent on average in the nine months ending in September, compared with the same period last year, according to local authorities.
A total of 1,388 employees with a minimum of one year work experience responded to the survey, which was conducted from Sept. 22 to Oct. 3 through online questionnaires, the job bank said.
