The Ministry of the Interior has proposed a national social security fund that would require workers to contribute NT$600 of their paychecks every month.
The interior ministry submitted the plan yesterday to the Cabinet. Under the proposal, workers would be required to pay NT$600 and the government would contribute NT$150, for a total monthly contribution of NT$750.
Low-income families would be required to contribute NT$450 monthly, while the government would put up NT$300.
At age 65, retirees would be able to draw a monthly pension of NT$7,500.
Foreign workers would not be required to participate in the program.
Workers who fail to make contributions to the program wouldn't qualify for the retirement benefit.
According to the interior ministry, the Cabinet plans to hold three cross-department meetings before submitting the proposal to the legislature. The first meeting will be held today.
Under the interior ministry's plan, the government's contribution to the fund would come from lottery receipts.
Forty-five percent of ticket sales would be earmarked for the social security program.
The pension is also designed to replace a NT$3,000 monthly stipend for poor elderly residents, but it was unclear yesterday when the payments would be phased out.
The legislature passed the NT$16 billion stipend program into law earlier this month. The means-tested program is for Taiwanese 65 or older, or Aboriginal Taiwanese 55 years or older.
The stipend program, retroactive to Jan. 1 this year, will benefit 450,000 senior citizens, including 11,700 Aborigines.
Qualified recipients may collect the stipends before the end of June.
The interior ministry's proposal follows a national conference over the weekend, in which social welfare scholars and professionals were invited to contribute their ideas to the social security fund.
A national pension has long been a KMT policy goal, but the proposal never managed to get off the ground due to a lack of funding.
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