Well, that’s easy. Monthly pension payments for retired armed forces personnel, teachers and civil servants is one of the main culprits behind the soaring national debt.
Every year, the government pays out over NT$200 billion for these pensions. Who knows in what shape the state coffers will be after 10 years more years — the period before the new system comes into effect — of increasing numbers of personnel retiring as young as 50 or even 40 under the old “75 system.”
Overly generous civil service pensions were actually among the main contributory factors behind Greece’s debt crisis. Male civil servants were allowed to retire at 57, women at 52, and they would receive a pension corresponding to a full month’s salary at their pay level at the time of their retirement. The recent state bankruptcy forced them to pass a new law changing the retirement age to 65, which brings it into line with most other countries.
That being the case, will the Taiwanese-style “85 system,” in which civil servants can claim monthly pension payments corresponding to their full salary having retired at 55, or 60 at the very latest, solve the problem?
As the saying goes, nothing is certain but death and taxes. Six months ago, when you thought about Greece, you conjured up images of blue skies, fresh food and inviting oceans.
Who knows? Six months from now, could Taiwan have become a byword for financial crisis?
Nobody wants this to happen, but surely the ever-expanding monthly pension burden and the resulting national debt is keeping any politician worth their salt from sleeping at night.
I call on the elite of the DPP, a party that professes to love this country, to prove that they represent more than a one-trick pony, and come out fighting on more than just one issue.
Huang Juei-min is a law professor at Providence University.
TRANSLATED BY PAUL COOPER
RSS