The Taipei City Government has established the nation’s first senior citizens’ job center in Nangang District (南港).
Helping senior citizens find work is a trend that has found a foothold in the US, Europe and Japan.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) got the ball rolling in Taiwan, hoping that the central government and local governments would build on Taipei’s effort to create a new economy in which younger and older people alike can contribute.
A primary reason that helping older people get back to work is becoming popular in advanced economies is that life expectancy continues to rise faster than retirement ages are increasing, and in some cases people are forced to retire earlier than they want, with the result that many retirees are keen to take up another employment.
Another reason lies in changes in social, population and family structures. Rapid developments in artificial intelligence and information technology widen the generational digital divide on the one hand, but on the other open a space for interplay of modern technology and the experience those who have honed their craft over many years.
Over the past five years, the number of older people going back to work in the US, the EU and Japan has increased by 30 percent. Seniors often say that being 70 years old is no longer too old to work.
The 93-year-old Japanese Yoshimitsu Yabuta is a perfect example. Yabuta started a part-time job at a McDonald’s branch in Takaoka City in 2019, when he was 90, working the evening shift four days a week, and said that he finds pleasure in his new job.
Older people in the US and Japan are for the most part looking for work in fast-food restaurants, beverage outlets and convenience stores, and many also work part-time for civic groups that help disadvantaged members of their communities.
A small number of older people with backgrounds in management or technology are also becoming consultants for industry associations or corporations.
In my experience teaching in northern Europe, finding employment provides older people with a greater sense of worth, above and beyond the extra income. And more importantly, their contribution also helps the national economy and aids industrial development.
Young people in the prime of their lives are not satisfied with running chain coffee shops, beverage outlets or restaurants. These are jobs better filled by older people, allowing the younger generation to seek employment in jobs where their skills can be put to better use, such as in the technology sector.
Taiwan is falling behind in this area. With the rate of older people looking for work at only 6.7 percent, there is significant room for growth.
The advent of intergenerational housing also shows why seniors are seeking employment.
The problem with housing strictly for older people is that it lacks intergenerational exchange and creates a socially limiting living environment.
When seniors go back to work in their communities and live in the same buildings as younger people, different generations can interact and look after each other, energizing every community member.
Governments in advanced nations are looking for ways to renovate housing predominantly occupied by older people to make it more attractive for young renters, as well as to build social housing suitable for older occupants.
In Taiwan, mixed housing projects could efficiently and quickly address the problem of scarce housing for younger people, and the government should look into this idea.
At a time when soaring property prices are making it difficult for young people to get married and settle down, and when it is difficult for them to make ends meet and raise a family, encouraging older people to return to work would have multiple benefits.
Instead of just making spurious promises of addressing housing justice that it cannot keep, government agencies in Taiwan should change tack and implement these ideas.
Andrew Huang is president of the Taiwan Association of Public Interest.
Translated by Paul Cooper
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under