Most people work for most of their lives and want to retire and live a leisurely lifestyle when they grow old. That is likely why the labor force participation of older people tends to be low across the world. However, changes have occurred in many countries in recent years, with older people remaining in the workforce.
Generally, when people pass the age of 65, they are considered elderly. In Taiwan, the proportion of older people with jobs has increased in recent years. Their labor participation rate was 7.7 percent in 2000, but that increased to 8.1 percent in 2010 and 8.8 percent in 2020, before reaching 9.6 percent last year, according to Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics data.
The phenomenon is not exclusive to Taiwan. Labor participation changes have also occurred in several developed countries over the same period. In Japan, the labor participation rate of people over the age of 65 was 22.8 percent in 2000 and grew to 25.6 percent last year. The figure for the US also increased from 12.9 percent to 19.2 percent, while Germany’s jumped from 3.7 percent to 14.3 percent and Sweden’s nearly doubled from 10.1 percent to 19.2 percent.
Why has the number of older workers increased across the world since 2000? Not all elderly people want to continue working after turning 65.
First, the world’s population of older people is increasing, which implies a significantly higher burden on workers to support retirees and more pressure on existing pension systems. Therefore, either voluntarily or by being forced to, it seems that everyone, including elderly people, has to work longer than before.
Second, several countries have slowly raised or are considering raising their mandatory retirement age to deal with problems associated with a rapidly aging population, such as a shrinking labor force, growing pressures on public pension and healthcare systems, and weaker productivity and economic development. In other words, for some governments, people have to be older to be considered elderly, while those traditionally recognized as elderly are now seen as being in their late middle age and should continue working.
Although the labor participation rate of elderly people in Taiwan is far lower than in Japan, the US or Europe, as more people in the nation volunteer or are forced to retire before the age of 65, what they all have in common is that the proportion of the elderly population is growing rapidly.
Sweden, Japan, Germany, Italy and France have become super-aged countries as the proportion of elderly people in their populations exceeded 20 percent in 2020. All the problems that other countries have experienced could be expected to also occur in Taiwan as the nation is forecast to become super-aged by 2025, when people aged 65 or older are forecast to make up about 20 percent of the total population, according to the National Development Council.
Some pundits have said that Taiwan is one of the most rapidly aging countries in the world and the nation’s demographic dividend is expected to disappear by 2028, yet the nation has done little to prepare for the consequences. Others warn that the issue would have serious ramifications for public finances, health insurance, medical care and even social stability if left unaddressed.
Taiwan’s labor participation rate for those aged 60 to 64 is about 40 percent and close to 10 percent for those aged 65 or older. Although the figures have gradually risen in recent years, they are much lower than in some neighboring countries, and even less than half of the figures in Japan, Europe and the US, indicating that there is still ample room for improvement. Yet effort needs to be made in the public and private sectors to create a healthy employment environment for middle-aged and senior citizens and, most importantly, to discard negative stereotypes about older people.
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