The Taipei City Government is to lower the age threshold of its annual bonus for the city’s elderly population during this year’s Double Ninth Festival (重陽節), with more than 350,000 residents aged 65 set to benefit from the new measure.
Previously, the annual bonus had been given to elderly Taipei residents aged 70 and above to celebrate the festival, which falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, and as a mark of respect to the city’s senior citizens
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) announced yesterday that the city would lower the age threshold for the bonus to 65, and it would be given to eligible residents in September — one month before the festival on Oct. 13.
“The bonus is a gift to the city’s senior residents, and lowering the age threshold will allow more senior residents to enjoy the benefits,” he said.
“We aim to create a friendlier environment for them in Taipei,” he added.
Under the new measure, Taipei residents aged between 65 and 79 would be given NT$1,500.
Those aged between 80 and 89 would be given NT$2,000. People aged between 90 and 98 would receive NT$5,000, while residents aged 99 and over would receive NT$10,000.
The new measure is being implemented amid complaints about the city’s age threshold, which is higher than in New Taipei City (新北市), Greater Taichung, Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung, all of which give bonuses to senior residents aged 65 and over.
According to Huang Yi-rong (黃薏蓉), a division chief in Taipei City’s Department of Social Welfare, about 100,000 more senior residents would enjoy the benefit under the new measures and, as a result, the city’s budget for the bonus would reach NT$620 million.
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