通膨吃掉了我們的健康
◎江明芸
從去年底到現在，短短兩個多月，不論吃的、用的，民生必需品價格皆以驚人的速度飆升，對此，吳揆在立院答詢時表示「糖要減少用量不要太甜，像泡咖啡的糖用得太重，那就可能積少成多；有些是選擇的問題，例如前幾天到花蓮去，請同仁買了碗裝泡麵，發現有售價四十五元的，但是更多二十八元的，也有十五元、二十三元、十八元等，所以『看你要吃什麼樣的材料』，有些不是用碗裝，是用一般袋裝的就更便宜。」
在什麼都漲、薪水不漲的年代下，民眾的消費習慣早以漸漸被迫向下修正，且改變的可能不僅僅只是糖少加一點，而是咖啡少喝一點，甚至直接戒掉咖啡。這對有選擇能力的中、上階級民眾而言，也許只是改變一個小小的生活習慣而已。但請問吳揆：是否想過那些身在最底層的民眾，根本沒有選擇的機會？在兩個月前，他們可能就已經餐餐吃十五元的泡麵了，物價飆漲後，他們的選擇卻是「要這餐餓肚子？還是下餐餓肚子？」
民眾不僅要面對「吃不飽」的困境，還可能面臨「住不起」的窘境！房價的不合理，民眾買不起房子被視為「正常」外，愈來愈多人連租屋都成問題。台灣目前有一○三．八萬勞工每月薪資所得
低於兩萬元，試問：這些勞工要如何在扣掉生活費後，支付高額的租押金以及水電費等必要支出？
因此，社會開始大量出現「窮忙族」，身兼兩份工作以上，但薪資卻只能勉強支付其每日生活費用，且禁不起任何可能導致無法工作的疾病或意外。最近，過勞死案件層出不窮，究其原因，除了工時過長外，更與「工作貧窮」等問題脫不了關係。
當吳揆在呼籲國人改變飲食習慣的同時，是否想過，國人吃的健康、住的健康，也正跟著物價漲幅逆向往下調整？
（作者為台灣勞工陣線教育推廣部主任，刊載於2011/03/06 自由廣場）
We must do more to help the working poor get by
Since the beginning of the year, the prices of everyday necessities from food to household goods have risen rapidly. In response, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) suggested during a recent question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan that we should use less sugar in our coffee, for example, because to do so would enable people to save more. He also said that sometimes the problem is just a matter of choice.
For example, when Wu sent a subordinate to buy instant noodles during a visit to Hualien a few days ago, he discovered that there was a wide range of products on offer, ranging from NT$15 to NT$45 in price. This, Wu said, is evidence that expenditure is driven by choice and the quality of food one wants to eat. He added that some instant noodles sold in bags are cheaper than those sold in cups.
At a time when everything seems to be going up except salaries, many people have been forced to reconsider their consumer habits. In many cases these changes have involved more than simply using less sugar in one’s coffee. Some people might have to drink less coffee or even give it up altogether. For the middle and upper classes who are still capable of making such choices, this might constitute nothing more than changing an unimportant daily habit.
However, that is not the case for those lower down the socioeconomic scale. I would like to ask Wu if he has ever given any thought to those at the bottom of the ladder who do not have the choices to which he alluded. Perhaps they were already eating instant noodles in bags costing NT$15 for every meal late last year. Following the sharp price hikes, maybe their choice now is which meal to skip.
In addition to not being able to eat their fill, some people may not be able to afford to pay their rent. Owing to unreasonably high housing prices, it is already seen as normal not to be able to buy one’s own house, but now more and more people cannot even afford to rent. Today, 1.038 million Taiwanese workers subsist on a monthly salary of less than NT$20,000.
What I would like to know is how Wu expects these people to be able to pay a high deposit, water and electricity bills and other daily expenses once their living costs have been deducted from their salary.
As a result, a large number of “working poor” have started to appear. There are those who despite working two jobs, find that their income barely covers their daily expenses, and heaven forbid that they or a family member gets ill or is involved in an accident stopping them from working.
Recently, there have been a string of cases of alleged karoshi, a Japanese term for “death from overwork.” In addition to excessive working hours, this is also intimately related to the issue of the working poor.
I wonder if it occurred to Wu, as he called on the public to adjust their eating habits, that both healthy dietary habits and healthy living conditions are declining in tandem with the rise in commodity prices.
(Chiang Ming-yun is director of education at the Taiwan Labor Front. Taipei Times 2011/03/11)
