英文摘要
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This paper uses the "Salt Workers' Livelihood Survey" of the Taiwan Monopoly Bureau during the Japanese colonial period as main research material in analyzing the income and expenditure records of workers in the salt fields of Huweiliao, Dongshih County. It depicts the economic life of salt workers along the west coast of Taiwan and illustrates the impact and significance of salt-making industry on local society. The paper examines the main and sideline incomes of salt workers, and their various living expenses. It suggests that despite the harsh working environment and high physical demands of salt making, the income of salt workers' families was lower than that of rice or sugarcane farmers' families. Due to the small size of individual salt fields and the poor salt drying environment in Huweiliao, the household income and disposable personal income of salt workers there were particularly low. Therefore, salt workers in Huweiliao had to make great efforts to tighten their living expenses on food, housing, medical care, and children's schooling. Even so, as the Engel coefficient of these households was as high as 71.16, that is, the cost of food materials accounts for the majority of all household expenses, there was little resources left for the improvement of various living facilities or dietary nutrition. The poverty of salt workers was certainly related to the barren coastal environment in western Taiwan, but the main culprit was the Monopoly Bureau's long-time suppression on salt collection price paid to salt workers, which enabled the salt monopoly to make profits. Yet despite the low income of salt making, it was relatively stable compared to other businesses and was easy to develop side jobs, therefore remained favored by certain coastal residents.
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