“Pension Tsunami” is a global phenomenon and a policy crisis that many developed and emerging countries are facing. How to defuse “the public pension and social security time bomb” has long been a challenge for governments in the world. Taiwan is no exception. On 9/3, military personnel, public school teachers and civil servants held a massive protest against the pension reforms in Taipei.
When the first pension systems were introduced in the early 20th Century, the average lifespan was only around 50 years old. (https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy/) The life expectancy of most pensioners is much longer today, of course. “One-third of our lifespan! That's how long retirement could last for today's working generation” (https://www.yourwealth.co.uk/features/p ... ng-people/).
The crisis is looming and the fiscal challenge is real. The timetable projecting how long it will take each pension system fund to go bankrupt in Taiwan is as follows:
Pension Systems Going Bankrupt By
- Military Personnel Pension Fund: By 2019
Labor Insurance: By 2027
Public School Teacher Pension: By 2027
Civil Servant Pension: By 2031
National Pension Insurance: By 2046
*** Source: 退撫基金精算報告書 (http://www.fund.gov.tw)
On the other hand, the issue is serious and hurts social justice and generation justice. “Some younger civil servants have even said they would stop contributing money to the retirement fund, as its imminent bankruptcy means there is little incentive for them to contribute” (Quoted from the previous article as well). “The income replacement ratio of Taiwan’s civil servant pension is currently the highest on Earth, the average monthly pension is at least three to four times higher than that of those in the private sector” (https://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/355037). Regardless of the historical context and causes for the current problems, the reality is that Taiwan's pension system is not sustainable, so it is necessary to make reforms before the funds are completely depleted and everyone suffers more.
Can the reforms take social and generation justice into consideration? Let's see how everyone thinks about this issue on Saturday, 9/24. In the meantime, I think you must have a lot of thoughts regarding this subject either because your family, someone you know or even yourself are more or less related to this issue in some fashion. Would you like to contribute your questions, concerns or stories for our meeting? That should make our discussion more vivid and practical. Thanks!
Reading Materials:
- Bankrupt Pension Systems a Modern Crisis
http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/ban ... ern-crisis
CIVIL PENSIONS: Young people’s groups voice their support for reform
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/a ... 2003654460
Session I:
- 1. What are the major issues and problems with Taiwan’s pension and other social security systems?
2. From social justice and generation justice points of view, do you think these pension systems are fair? Is it fair that civil servants, teachers and military personnel in Taiwan receive such large pensions (as a percentage of their last salaries) and can retire at such an early age?
3. If pensions weren't so high and the retirement age wasn't so low, would Taiwanese still want to fill jobs as civil servants and public school teachers?
- 4. Why is government in the business of pension policy at all? Should people be more responsible for their retirement life? What government should do to defuse the pension time bomb? How should the government lead and promote a fair and balanced social insurance system?
5. Should Taiwan raise the retirement age along with the pension contributions by working people to try to restore the health of its pension system?
6. Should Taiwan allow more immigrants to work and contribute to the pension fund, which means they would have to be allowed to collect pensions when they retire?
7. How should Taiwan increase its birthrate so it will have more workers to fund pensions in the future?
- 合灣年金制度的問題與改革 (成大 Paper 2012)
http://www.chass.ncku.edu.tw/nckuchass/ ... t/yang.pdf- • 老年經濟安全保障架構 (Taiwan, World Bank 2005, p8)
• 台灣各類老年年金涵蓋人數 (The number of insured by each of Taiwan’s Social Security and Pension systems, 2011, p9)
• 勞保, 勞退, 公保, 退撫比一比 (The Comparison between Labor Insurance, Labor Pension, Civil Servant Insurance, and Civil Servant Pension, p10)
• 老年年金給付按投保薪資級距分(The combined Insurance and Pension amount and Income Replacement Ratio is based on salary grade, p11: Civil Servant benefits are much better than the labor benefits.)
http://opinion.cw.com.tw/blog/profile/266/article/3969
Our pensions time bomb: five ways the government is trying to defuse it
https://www.yourwealth.co.uk/features/p ... ng-people/
Defusing New Jersey’s Pension Time Bomb
http://nypost.com/2015/03/22/defusing-n ... time-bomb/
Pension Funds Online: Country Profiles - Taiwan
http://www.pensionfundsonline.co.uk/con ... taiwan/100
Bankrupt pension systems: crisis in modern society
http://opinion.inquirer.net/97017/bankr ... rn-society
羅德水:擦亮眼睛,別讓年金問題撕裂社會
http://opinion.cw.com.tw/blog/profile/2 ... 72?ext=rel
【投書】莊正中:提高年金報酬率,宛如提油救火?
http://opinion.cw.com.tw/blog/profile/5 ... 13?ext=rel
總統府國家年金改革委員 (中華民國105年5月27日)
http://pension.president.gov.tw/
潛藏負債: 30兆
破產順序:軍保 (2019)→勞保 (2027)→公保 (2030) →國民年金(2046)
http://udn.com/news/story/7852/1221488
https://s.yimg.com/os/publish-images/ne ... 56d2_-.jpg - • 老年經濟安全保障架構 (Taiwan, World Bank 2005, p8)
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Agenda:
3:45 ~ 4:00pm Greetings & Free Talk / Ordering Beverage or Meal / Getting Newcomer’s Information
4:00 ~ 4:10pm Opening Remarks / Newcomer’s Self-introduction / Grouping
(Session I)
4:10 ~ 4:50pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
4:50 ~ 5:10pm Summarization (20 mins)
5:10 ~ 5:15pm Regrouping / Instruction Giving / Taking a 10 Minutes Break (Intermission)
(Session II)
5:15 ~ 5:55pm Discussion Session (40 mins)
6:00 ~ 6:20pm Summarization (20 mins)
6:20 ~ 6:30pm Concluding Remarks / Announcements ********************************************************************************************************************************************
聚會日期:列於該貼文主題內
聚會時間:請準時 4:00 pm 到 ~ 約 6:30 pm 左右結束
星期六聚會地點:丹堤濟南店
地址、電話:台北市濟南路三段25號 地圖 (02) 2740-2350
捷運站:板南線 忠孝新生站 3 號出口
走法:出忠孝新生站 3 號出口後,沿著巷子(忠孝東路三段10巷)走約 2 分鐘,到了濟南路口,左轉走約 2 分鐘即可看到。
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