Experienced hand guides Taiwan’s pension reform efforts

2021/01/11

Lin Wan-i, minister without portfolio overseeing social welfare affairs, has been involved with calls for pension reform since working as a professor at Taipei City-based National Taiwan University during the early 1990s, at a time when wider expansion of civil society and social activism led to demands for greater access to retirement support.

 Taiwan’s retirement plans differ by occupation, with separate schemes for those working in the military, education, civil service, farming and private sectors, as well as for the unemployed. Lin was one of the chief architects of this system and its modifications. In June 2016, after President Tsai Ing-wen began her first term, he was again tasked with the job of overseeing much-needed pension reform, one of the key promises in Tsai’s campaign platform.

 The question of how best to reform Taiwan’s multitiered pension system has divided politicians and public alike for many years. In his role as the National Pension Reform Committee’s chief executive, Lin listened patiently while the group heard passionate arguments for and against the existing systems over a monthslong process. “My promise was to get the job done in a fair and impartial manner. I never wavered from that commitment,” Lin said.

 After the consultation period, the NPRC concluded certain pension schemes were unsustainable, specifically those for public servants, teachers and military personnel. Without reform, these funds were predicted to go bankrupt by 2031, 2030 and 2020, respectively.

 In June 2017, the committee’s proposed revisions were passed by the Legislature, entering into force in July the following year. The amendments included raising personal contributions, lowering payouts and increasing retirement ages. “These changes bring Taiwan in line with international standards for providing a comfortable retirement,” Lin said.

The changes were not without controversy, as groups representing civil servants, teachers and military personnel strongly resisted some of the reforms. But the government knew the move was both necessary and morally justified, according to Lin.

 While the revisions have secured the immediate future of Taiwan’s pension systems, further changes are needed before a suitable long-term solution is reached for the entire country. “We need to seize the opportunity to leave a lasting legacy,” Lin said.

 Aside from financial pressures, the question of intergenerational fairness is high on the agenda. “Older adults deserve to retire in comfort and with dignity, but young people must not shoulder all of the burden. After all, everyone has an equal right to economic security,” Lin said.

Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)