The National Policy Foundation, a think tank affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), on Thursday called on President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration to pay more attention to the psychological and financial strain family caregivers face.
The central government’s Long-term Care Plan 2.0 does not give family caregivers the help they need, said Kao Yuang-kuang (高永光), organizer of the foundation’s sustainable development division.
KMT Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said that long-term care is an issue for everyone, not just elderly people.
His generation and the next must address the possibility that they would be responsible for caring for aging relatives, he said.
From January to last month, the number of births in Taiwan was lower than the number of deaths by 8,795, Chiang said, citing Ministry of the Interior statistics.
Meanwhile, the nation has more than 3.52 million people aged 65 or older, he said.
While the Act of Gender Equality in Employment (性別工作平等法) gives employees up to seven days of family care leave per year to take care of family members who need vaccinations, have a serious illness or have experienced some other major event, Chiang said that seven days is not enough.
The Long-term Care Plan 2.0, proposed by the Tsai administration in 2016, is in its fourth year, but the public does not know enough about the plan and the government has not done an adequate job of publicizing it, he said.
Chiang said that based on his visits to daycare centers for elderly people and the feedback that he has received from family caregivers, respite care is what is “most urgently needed.”
He said that he would push for legislation to allow workers to take time off to arrange for the long-term care of relatives.
To prevent workers from being forced to leave their jobs to take care of elderly relatives, Chiang urged the central government to conduct a comprehensive review of its Long-term Care Plan 2.0 and to consider other countries’ approaches to the issue.
Caregiving responsibilities affect the work performance of 84 percent of people who balance work and caregiving duties, KMT Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong (謝衣鳳) said, citing a 2016 survey by the Taiwan Association of Family Caregivers.
A 2017 survey by the association showed that more than half of the people who balance work and caregiving duties believed that the first six months after their family member developed a disability were the busiest, she said.
Hsieh said that she would propose using the Ministry of Labor’s Employment Security Fund to provide workers paid family care leave where they would be paid 60 percent of their usual salary.
Taipei does not have enough long-term residential care facilities or daycare centers to meet demand, KMT Taipei City Councilor Chang Szu-kang (張斯綱) said, urging the Taipei City Government to take more responsibility by helping interested businesses to secure land.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by