A majority of men and women said that an annual income of between NT$550,000 and NT$650,000 (US$16,697 and US$19,733) is their threshold for getting married, contrary to a much higher figure that has been circulated online, a survey released yesterday showed.
The survey by Money 101.com.tw and the dating app Pairs found that eligibility to marry is closely related to earning power.
Nearly half of respondents with an annual income of less than NT$450,000 said they were not certain if they could get married, while nearly 50 percent of those with an annual income of between NT$550,000 and NT$650,000 said they earned enough to marry.
An annual income of between NT$550,000 and NT$650,000 translates to a monthly income of at least NT$45,800.
Men and women appear to see eye-to-eye on this amount. There has been heated debate over women’s conditions for getting married, ever since a woman said on a popular Web site earlier this year that she would not marry a man who earns less than NT$70,000 per month.
However, women who earn nearly NT$70,000 a month demand such an amount, the survey said.
The survey found that in terms of expectations on the income of their future partner, most women would prefer that their spouse’s annual salary is between NT$100,000 and NT$200,000 higher than their own.
In comparison, most men would prefer that their future partners earn below NT$450,000 a year, or nearly NT$38,000 a month.
The NT$70,000 figure would be difficult to achieve for most men and women of marriageable age. According to government statistics, out of the 10.47 million salaried workers last year, only 658,000, or 6.2 percent, earned more than NT$70,000 per month.
The statistics also show that as high as 40 to 55 percent of men and women of marriageable age remain single.
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