About half of seniors have used the Internet recently, nearly double the number from 2017, while fewer say that society disrespects the elderly, a Ministry of Health and Welfare survey showed.
The government conducts a survey of people aged 55 or older every five years to keep track of demographics, living standards, health, employment, civil engagement and future planning.
The ministry recently released the results of its 2022 survey online, finding that people aged 65 and older are generally more satisfied with their lives than they were five years ago.
Photo: Huang Mei-chu, Taipei Times
In the 2022 version, 86.78 percent said they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied,” 2.8 percentage points higher than in 2017.
Among those aged 55 to 64, 88.96 percent said they were satisfied, an increase of 4.12 percentage points.
Apart from showing that the population is indeed aging, the biggest difference in this year’s survey is in Internet use, Department of Statistics Director Lee Mei-ling (李美鈴) told reporters via telephone today.
About 87.83 percent of people aged 55 to 64 said they had used the Internet in the past three months, up from 65.66 percent in 2017.
Among those 65 and over, usage jumped from 26.52 to 50.36 percent over the period.
Frequency of use also increased, with 43.12 percent of those 65 or older saying they use the Internet “daily or nearly every day,” 23.72 percentage points higher than five years earlier.
Also of note were beliefs about societal attitudes toward seniors, Lee said.
About 14.41 percent of those aged 65 or older said that society “highly disrespects” or “disrespects” the elderly, down 5.03 percentage points from five years earlier.
The figure was 23.94 percent among those aged 55 to 64, down 1.95 percentage points.
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