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Groups slam plan to raise pensions

"A national pension system is in place in over 140 countries in the world. I think this is the road we should take as well."

Bai Hsiu-hsiung, National Taiwan University professor

Social groups and social welfare researchers said yesterday that proposals to increase the old-age pension for selected groups were unfair and urged lawmakers to halt the plans.

The remarks were made at a press conference held at the legislature.

Several plans have been proposed by lawmakers of all political stripes to increase the value of various pensions, including the ordinary pension, farmers' pension and the Aboriginal pension.

Representatives from social groups and academics said such increases were unfair.

Lu Chien-teh (呂建德), secretary-general of the Social Welfare Association of Taiwan, said: "Such pensions are unfair because they only benefit certain groups of people, and therefore are not the solution to problems concerning economic security of the elderly in general."

Cheng Li-chen (鄭麗珍), a professor at the department of social works at the National Taiwan University (NTU), worried that the proposed increases could result in a shrinking of other welfare programs, such as those for children and women.

"It is true that many of the nation's elderly live in poverty. However, there are also a lot of wealthy elderly and it would be unfair for the latter to also benefit from the pension plans," said Bai Hsiu-hsiung (白秀雄), also a social work professor at NTU.

In addition, such pension plans could impose a heavy financial burden on the nation.

"If, as some lawmakers have proposed, all three pensions were raised to NT$6,000 per month per person, we will be spending approximately NT$100 billion [US$3 billion] annually covering all pensions," said Sun Yi-hsin (孫一信), deputy secretary-general of the Parents' Association for Persons with Intellectual Disability.

To the academics and social groups, a universal national pension system that collects its funds from each individual's monthly contribution would be a fairer and more sustainable plan.

"A national pension system is in place in over 140 countries in the world. I think this is the road we should take as well," Bai told the press conference.
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