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
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