The middle class in Taiwan and Hong Kong was ‘created’ not only by market forces, but through political engineering. 1 In order to ride the tide of globalization, governments in both societies have initiated various public policies to promote infrastructural and human resource development. In a policy research report entitled The East Asian Miracle , the World Bank ( 1993 : 1-2) praised both societies for having achieved ‘a remarkable record of high and sustained economic growth’ and for having been ‘unusually successful at sharing the fruits of growth’ during the period 1965 to 1990. This was a golden age for the middle class. For example, educational attainment jumped, job opportunities for the middle class (especially for women) expanded, and incomes rose due to rapid economic growth. Furthermore, increased home ownership rates and the accumulation of other fi nancial assets enlarged the wealth of middle class families, and the cost of many consumer goods fell, which enabled more people to live a middle class life. 2

In the past two decades, the economies of Taiwan and Hong Kong have continued to grow. 3 But growth with equity is no longer a feature of their ‘miraculous’ economic development, and the conditions and structures that provide people with the opportunity to enter and remain in the middle class have also weakened. Faced with growing challenges from economic globalization and regionalization in recent years, members of the middle class in both societies have had to deal with greater economic pressure and uncertainties, work under less stable employment conditions and for longer hours but not necessarily higher pay. 4 Another factor has been the soaring costs of maintaining a middle class lifestyle, such as increased tuition fees to educate their children, the skyrocketing costs of better quality residential property, plus the expense of regular overseas holiday trips, private medical insurance, high-end electronic appliances, and so forth.