Profiling the middle classes in Macao today

The middle class has been regarded as a socio-economic cornerstone of developed societies. For a government, creating a vibrant middle class is looked upon as a means of softening social inequalities, and maintaining it a way of retaining the status quo. For an individual, the attainment of middle class status is a symbol that one has successfully entered into a certain ‘way of life’, and an instrument for achieving confidence in the future (Tilkidjiev 2005; Wheary et al. 2007: 1). While the phenomenal economic growth of Macao since the turn of the new century has led to greater income inequality there, it has also brought greater social mobility and given rise to a middle class. This trend of development is in line with the experiences of other Asian societies – where in all cases the middle classes have emerged during periods of very rapid economic growth (Hsiao 1993:3–4; Hattori et al. 2003: 129–30).