In order to ease the burden on the younger generation, Taiwan’s“Legislature” passed the“Zhuang generation policy and industrial development promotion law”(the“Zhuang Generation Promotion Law”) on its third reading on January 7, many interpretations of the island.
It will come into effect next year
Taiwan’s“China Times” reported Thursday that a“Strong promotion law” was passed on the 7th. According to the third reading, “Zhuang generation” refers to people over 55 years old who have the ability and will to work. The third reading stipulated that the “Zhuang generation population promotion law” would come into 2026 on January 1, and that the authorities should issue a “Zhuang generation population policy white paper” within two years of its implementation, and regularly review and revise in light of performance and developments both within and outside the island.
Taiwan has added nearly 10 million people in the past 50 years to form a positive pyramid-like population structure dominated by teenagers, Wu Chuncheng, a“Legislator” of the Democratic Party who pushed for the law, said on the 7th, in the next 50 years, Taiwan will reduce nearly 10 million people and form an inverted pyramid society dominated by the elderly. The whole legal system, industrial structure and cultural concept need to be completely updated. He said that according to a report by Taiwan’s national development council, “Aging” and“Fewer children” are already irreversible trends in the island, and Taiwan officially entered the“Super-aging society” this year, in another decade half of the population will be over 50, when the consumer market shrinks, the tax base shrinks, the youth dependency ratio soars, social problems loom large and have become a serious security crisis.
Promote lifelong learning
On January 6, the day before the promotion of the“Strong promotion law”, Taiwan’s“Ministry of Education” announced the launch of the“Third Life University Pilot Scheme” in the 2025 academic year, for the 55-year-old“Zhuang generation” to provide multiple learning opportunities. Lin Tengjiao, deputy minister of Education, said there were 8,009,000“Strong generation” aged 55 or above, or 34.22 per cent of the population. The Third Life University pilot program allows people over 55 years of age to study and have the opportunity to re-enter the workplace.
The plan covers three major areas, namely“Whole-person health”, “Career transformation” and“Social Connection”, China Times said Monday, the universities will offer courses in artificial intelligence applications, financial technology, health and nutrition management, and students will pay tuition for as many credits as they apply, the university also grants a bachelor’s degree if the student has completed his or her graduation credits within 10 years. Taiwan’s Ministry of Education expects to enroll 1,500 to 2,000 students in its first year.
Taiwan’s“United Daily” said Monday that the“Third Life University pilot program” this year invited 38 universities on the island to participate. The National Chung Cheng University serves as the “Head office,” and Vice Principal Zhan SHENGRU said Thursday that the National Chung Cheng University’s curriculum for the “Zhuang generation” is designed to help, they include the departments of Labour, Social Welfare, economics, adult and Continuing education, athletics, psychology, communication and law. In addition, the program will also work with Taipei Palace Museum, Le Ling University, medical units and other external institutions to promote the popularization and deepening of life-long learning.
The young bear a heavier burden
How Old is Taiwan? Statistics from Taiwan’s “Ministry of Interior” show that by the end of August, seven counties and 2024 had reached the “Super-old society” standard, including Chiayi County, Taipei, Nantou County, Yunlin County, Pingtung County, Hualien County and Keelung, nearly one-third of all counties and cities in Taiwan have entered the “Super-old society”, in 2025, Taiwan will reach the“Super-old society” standard. In terms of counties and cities, Chiayi County has the highest proportion of elderly population, with 22.88% , followed by Taipei with 22.67% , and Nantou County with 21.42% .
Statistics from the National Development Council show that in 2014, the ratio (the number of elderly people supported by 100 working-age people) was 16.19, with an estimated 2024 of 27.89 and a 2027 of 32.39 With the impact of“Fewer children”, the burden on young people is even heavier. The 2024 population will fall from 23.4 m in the 2024 to 14.97 m in 2070, while the number of people over 65 will increase by 2.48 m, according to estimates released by the National Development Council in October. So the original population by 3.6 young adults to raise 1 elderly population, reduced to“Every 1 young adults population to raise 1 elderly.”.
Wu Huiyan, president of the Taiwan Pension Fund Association, 2024 that 33 per cent of 2023 tax payers are over the age of 65, the highest of any age group on the island, because they have experienced “Taiwan’s economic take-off”, holding about two-thirds of the island’s wealth, but facing a life expectancy of 30 to 40 years after retirement, the conservative estimate of the pension is at least nt $16.6 million. If you want to live a comfortable“Perfect retirement life,” At least nt $47.6 m.
The allocation of public resources is controversial
In order to solve the problem of insufficient labor force, the Taiwan authorities have encouraged middle-aged and elderly people to find new jobs in recent years. According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Labor, there are about 2.14 million 2023 over 55 years old, including 1.05 million people aged 55-59, with an employment rate of 59.67 percent, and 688,000 people aged 60-64, the employment rate was 39.86% and 9.96% for 410,000 people over 65 years old. They are mainly engaged in manufacturing, wholesale and retail, agriculture, forestry, fisheries and livestock, construction engineering and accommodation and catering industry. Li Yujia, president of the all-taiwan Federation of small and medium-sized enterprises, said that people over 55 are different from those in their 20s in terms of physical strength and conditions, but have accumulated enough social and workplace experience, the demand for jobs will be different.
However, the Taiwan authorities to deal with the“Super-old society” approach also caused controversy. Xu Ganlin, an associate professor at the Department of Sociology of Tokai University, said that the “Zhuang generation” was the generation that controlled the island’s wealth, and that there was a big gap between the so-called “Collapse generation” of the younger generation and the “Zhuang generation”, the latter is the main social factor that causes the“Fewer children” in the island. It is more practical to inject public resources into the“Collapse generation”. Jessica Tsoi, a professor of economics at Tamkang University University, questioned whether the Zhuang generation was synonymous with the financially disadvantaged? “We should not define an additional generation to take resources, create more ‘collapse generation’ , and make the problem of aging society more serious.”.
Hsin bing-lung, a scholar at Taiwan University, also mentioned that the middle-aged and elderly, including the Zhuang generation, are now mostly engaged in lower-paid service industries because of stereotypes and even discrimination against the elderly, even when they are employed, the quality of their work is poor. He suggested that the authorities should find ways to create more quality jobs for the“Zhuang generation”, giving priority to keeping these groups in their original jobs, and providing assistance to alleviate their burden if their physical strength can not handle their original jobs. In addition, the relevant regulations have explicitly prohibited age discrimination in employment and set penalties, but few enterprises are really punished, the authorities should enforce the law, otherwise only rely on“Strong promotion law” to solve the problem of age discrimination.