Building a knowledge-based economy is the best way to deal with a fast-aging society like Taiwan's, a senior official with the Council for Economic Planning and Development said yesterday.
Council Chairman Hu Sheng-cheng (
The graying of Taiwan is expected to accelerate after 2019, when the country's population is forecast to begin declining, the council said in a report.
This may be exacerbated by a declining birth rate, with the younger generation tending to have fewer if any children even after marriage, according to a report by the council's department of manpower planning.
The nation's total fertility rate declined from 1.68 in 2000 to 1.12 last year, marking a 33 percent drop, according to the report. The rate refers to the average number of babies born to women during their reproductive years.
As a result, the rate of population growth would drop from 0.3 percent this year to 0.03 percent in 2018, the report said.
Hu said it was time that Taiwan began preparing for an aging population and fewer births, both of which were bound to have an impact on the economy.
The working age population, referring to those between 15 and 64 years of age, is expected to account for about 70 percent of the total population over the next 15 years, with the percentage beginning to drop after that time.
The working population is forecast to drop to 55 percent of the total population by 2051, the report said.
As a result, the younger generations' burden of supporting retired citizens would increase sharply, from the current figure of 7.2 working-age people supporting one senior to 3.3 working-age people supporting one senior in 2026, with the figure dropping further to 1.5 by 2051.
One way to cope with the problem would be to raise the mandatory retirement age as some Western countries had done, Hu said, noting that the government was planning to follow suit.
A more pertinent strategy would be to focus on developing the knowledge economy, which would better accommodate late retirement, Hu said, adding that Taiwan's high-tech industry had already begun to invite retired Japanese engineers to Taiwan to share their experiences.
Moreover, he said, the government was studying ways to remove barriers for young couples in raising children. For instance, he said, the Ministry of the Interior has mapped out measures that will be distributed for comment during the Taiwan Economic Sustainable Development Conference next month.
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