Delhi, Mumbai most 'optimistic cities' in Asia: Fidelity

MUMBAI: Mumbai and New Delhi are among the most " optimistic cities" in Asia, according to a recent Fidelity survey titled ‘Rich Me? Poor Me?.’ Despite concerns about rising disparity, over 78% of the respondents in New Delhi and Mumbai expect their household income status to improve over the next 10 years.

Only 16% of the Indian respondents say they expect it to remain the same. Barely 6% feel they will be worse off from current levels, the Fidelity report said.

Among Asian countries, confidence appears especially strong in India and China. Respondents from Beijing and Shanghai are almost as optimistic, with 63% saying they expect their household’s income status to improve and 31% saying they expect it to remain the same. Again, only 6% say they are unsure or expect their situation to worsen.

In terms of income perception, majority of the Asian respondents surveyed think their and co-workers have middle incomes. Respondents in the six cities outside China and India all have relatively low percentages of respondents who think that their friends and co-workers have high income.

"New Delhi is the only city where a majority of respondents do not think that their friends and co-workers have middle incomes. Half (50%) of Delhiites instead think that their friends and co-workers have high incomes. The results for Mumbai also show a high percentage (31%) who think their friends and co-workers have high incomes," the Fidelity report said.

The Fidelity survey shows that 76% of respondents expect income gap between high income and low income groups to widen over the next ten years. Only 17% say they expect the gap between rich and poor to remain the same and a tiny 6% say they expect the gap to narrow.

"This is an astonishing result and it suggests that the vast majority of Asians believe that rising inequality will go hand in hand with continued economic development and rising overall prosperity," the report said.

Asians see education, hard work and ambition as the keys to higher income. About 67% of respondents who think their children will achieve middle or high income status feel that this would result from good education.