The Double Ninth Festival, a traditional holiday to honor elders, this year falls on Oct. 4, and local governments have already started giving out cash gifts.
People older than 65 in Nantou County received NT$1,000 (US$31.96) each, while local townships gave an additional cash gift of varying amounts.
The most fortunate were those living in Caotun Township (草屯), who received an additional NT$1,000 each after the township mayor promised during the 2018 election campaign to increase the amount from NT$500.
As the county has 95,510 people older than 65, making up about 19.88 percent of its population, the Double Ninth gifts would amount to NT$170 million. Nationwide, the total spent on such handouts exceeds NT$6 billion, shared among 4 million senior citizens.
The total spent is sure to increase as the nation’s population ages, and this is just the Double Ninth cash gifts: There are other senior welfare benefits available.
Ministry of the Interior data showed that Taiwan’s population in 2006 was 23,539,816, with 3,106,105 people older than 65, or 13.2 percent of the population.
Last month, the data showed that the population was 23,194,554, of which 4,004,096 were older than 65, or 17.26 percent of the population. In 16 years, the over-65 group rose by 897,991, and as the population started declining for the first time in 2019, more people are dying than are being born.
As Taiwan’s fertility rate is one of the lowest in the world, and the nation is predicted to become a super-aged society in three years, the government should use the limited resources it has more effectively.
It should raise the age at which people are defined as a senior citizen.
When the Senior Citizens Welfare Act (老人福利法) was promulgated in 1980, a senior citizen was defined as anyone older than 70. Although the implementation of the National Health Insurance system in 1995 meant that people started living longer, the law was amended in 1997 to change the definition to those older than 65, in line with the international norm.
Today, people older than 65 are much healthier than people the same age 50 years ago, yet after they legally become a senior citizen and eligible for more benefits, they increase the financial burden on the state coffers.
Ministry of Finance data showed that as of the end of June the central government’s debt was NT$6.16 trillion, or NT$266,000 per citizen. Local government debt was NT$775.7 billion.
If the birthrate continues to fall and the number of senior citizens increases, social welfare expenditures would inevitably put the squeeze on other government projects.
I once saw a sign in Taichung Tzu Chi Hospital that said it prioritizes elderly patients, which it defined as anyone older than 85. Senior citizens are often seen pushing their 85-year-old parents in wheelchairs. Priority treatment in hospitals is different for seniors, but the principle is the same.
Last year the average annual income in Taiwan exceeded US$30,000 for the first time, but the wealth gap continues to grow and the poor are still getting poorer. Older Taiwanese are not necessarily middle-low-income earners, so the wealthy could also be eligible for senior citizen benefits.
The government should consider increasing the age at which people are defined as senior citizens.
Wang Juei-hsing is a former head of the Taiwan Provincial Government’s Land Development Division.
Translated by Paul Cooper
US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) were born under the sign of Gemini. Geminis are known for their intelligence, creativity, adaptability and flexibility. It is unlikely, then, that the trade conflict between the US and China would escalate into a catastrophic collision. It is more probable that both sides would seek a way to de-escalate, paving the way for a Trump-Xi summit that allows the global economy some breathing room. Practically speaking, China and the US have vulnerabilities, and a prolonged trade war would be damaging for both. In the US, the electoral system means that public opinion
They did it again. For the whole world to see: an image of a Taiwan flag crushed by an industrial press, and the horrifying warning that “it’s closer than you think.” All with the seal of authenticity that only a reputable international media outlet can give. The Economist turned what looks like a pastiche of a poster for a grim horror movie into a truth everyone can digest, accept, and use to support exactly the opinion China wants you to have: It is over and done, Taiwan is doomed. Four years after inaccurately naming Taiwan the most dangerous place on
In their recent op-ed “Trump Should Rein In Taiwan” in Foreign Policy magazine, Christopher Chivvis and Stephen Wertheim argued that the US should pressure President William Lai (賴清德) to “tone it down” to de-escalate tensions in the Taiwan Strait — as if Taiwan’s words are more of a threat to peace than Beijing’s actions. It is an old argument dressed up in new concern: that Washington must rein in Taipei to avoid war. However, this narrative gets it backward. Taiwan is not the problem; China is. Calls for a so-called “grand bargain” with Beijing — where the US pressures Taiwan into concessions
Wherever one looks, the United States is ceding ground to China. From foreign aid to foreign trade, and from reorganizations to organizational guidance, the Trump administration has embarked on a stunning effort to hobble itself in grappling with what his own secretary of state calls “the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted.” The problems start at the Department of State. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has asserted that “it’s not normal for the world to simply have a unipolar power” and that the world has returned to multipolarity, with “multi-great powers in different parts of the
RSS