More than half of older people in Taiwan would prefer to live with their children, but an increasing number are living alone in rented homes, a survey by the Ministry of Health and Welfare found.
The survey, which was conducted in 2022, found that 51.85 percent of those aged 55 to 64 wanted to live with their children and 96 percent hoped to live in property owned by themselves or a family member.
Of the respondents aged 65 or older, 56.71 wanted to live with their children and 91 percent to live in property owned by themselves or a family member.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
The results were similar to those in a 2017 survey, the ministry said.
The northern part of Taiwan proper had the most residents over the age of 65, accounting for 44.47 percent of the total nationwide, followed by the south with 28.49 percent and the central region with 23.96 percent. The remaining 3.08 percent live in other parts of the country.
By region, the majority of older people who own properties or live in family-owned homes lived in the south, while the majority of those who rented properties lived in the north, the survey showed.
Of those over the age of 55 who lived on their own, 5.89 percent, or 438,000 people, rented their homes, the survey showed.
That was a slight increase from 5.63 percent in the 2017 survey.
Of those in the 55 to 64 age group who were tenants, 22.3 percent said they had experienced problems when trying to rent a home due to their age, while that percentage increased to 23.05 percent for those aged 65 or older, the survey showed.
Asked why they did not live in a retirement home, the top three reasons given by respondents were: financial constraints, a lack of freedom in retirement homes, and a dislike of living together with many people.
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