Seven of the nation’s administrative regions, encompassing 57.2 percent of Taiwan’s townships and villages, became “super-aged societies” in June, the Ministry of the Interior said in its latest report.
A region is considered super-aged if 20 percent of the population is aged 65 or older.
The ministry report showed that Taiwan had 4,391,744 people aged 65 or older as of June, representing 18.76 percent of the total population and an increase of 1,024,425 people compared with August 2018.
In June, the nation’s elderly dependency ratio was 27.3 senior citizens per 100 working-aged people, an increase of 7.39 people over August 2018, it said.
That means there were about four working-aged Taiwanese for every person aged 65 or older who needed support, down from five last year, it said.
Chiayi County was the oldest region with 22.77 percent of its population aged 65 or older, followed by Taipei at 22.51 percent, Nantou County at 21.28 percent, Yunlin County at 20.85 percent, Keelung at 20.76 percent, Pingtung County at 20.54 percent and Hualien County at 20.2 percent, the report said.
Taipei and Keelung likely made the list due to the draw of better access to medical resources in the cities, the ministry said.
Hsinchu County, Hsinchu City, Lienchiang County and Taoyuan were the youngest regions with people older than 65 accounting for 14.25 percent, 15.06 percent, 15.4 percent and 15.48 percent of the local population respectively, it said.
The prevalence of young people in the jurisdictions — especially in Hsinchu county and city, home of the nation’s semiconductor industry — were likely linked to the high availability of jobs or other geographical factors, the ministry said.
Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Wu Chun-cheng (吳春城) last week introduced a bill urging the government to adjust its economic policy to account for the country’s aging population.
The bill, cosigned by legislators from across party lines, calls for replacing official language referring to “old age” and “senior citizens” with terms such as “the long-lived” and “of the strong generation.”
Taiwan is expected to lose 10 million people from its population in the next five decades to become the fastest-aging society in the world, Wu wrote in the bill’s statement of purpose, citing National Development Council data.
The nation must establish a basic law to address the aging crisis, as Japan did 30 years ago, he said, adding that Taiwan cannot afford inaction.
A Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the bill’s proponents should provide a clearer definition for terms such as “the strong generation” before passing amendments.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
LEISURE: The new law adds Confucius’ birthday, the anniversary of the Battle of Guningtou, Constitution Day and Little New Year as national holidays The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed new legislation adding four national holidays and making Workers’ Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party used their combined majority in the legislature to push the jointly proposed draft through its third and final reading. This new law supersedes the existing regulations for the implementation of memorial days and state holidays, which are administered by the Ministry of the Interior. The new law recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the anniversary of the Battle of Guningtou on Oct. 25, Constitution Day on Dec. 25 and “Little New Year,”
RSS