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SHANGHAINESE put providing for old age,
education of their children and home buying at
the top of their list for spending savings,
according to the latest survey released by
Shanghai City Investigation Group of the
Shanghai Statistics Bureau. "The results show some changes in attitudes compared with the last survey conducted in 1990," said Zhang Yan, an official of the group. Reforms in the pension system have prompted people to set aside more money for their old age. The shift away from pensions provided by State-owned enterprises (SOEs) has meant people now make monthly contributions to a State pension plan. In the 1990 survey, saving for retirement was ranked second place, but it was given first place in the latest study. About 30 per cent of those surveyed selected it as their first choice. The increased importance given to saving for education reflects an erosion of traditional values. While in the 1990 survey people were more willing to spend money on a wedding ceremony, a total of 28.4 per cent of Shanghainese surveyed would now rather invest in education. The abolition of the old system of house allocation for all SOE employees, another major change in policy of the past few years, has also had an impact on people's saving habits. Over 11 per cent of those surveyed said they were putting money away towards buying their own house, making it the third most important saving objective. Only about 1 per cent said they save money to invest, which means the aim of saving money for most people is still to keep or raise their standard of living instead of trying to enlarge their deposits through investment. "It also provides an insight into why there has been almost no decrease in bank deposits in savings accounts even after seven consecutive interest rate cuts," said Zhang. "Interestingly, the survey showed it is still only a very small percentage of the city's population - just 0.1 per cent - who are saving money to buy a car," Zhang added. Shanghai Star |
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