EDITORIAL: Aging population policy overlooked

As of the end of last month, Taiwan had a total population of 23,224,721, declining for the 32nd consecutive month, the latest household registration data released on Thursday by the Ministry of the Interior showed. The figure was down 103,622 from a year earlier — or an average decline of 283.9 per day — and 10,281 from the previous month.

Last month, Taiwan recorded 7,492 births — averaging about one baby every 6 minutes — dropping by 972 from the same month last year and 414 from July. From January to last month, the number of newborns was 61,742, decreasing by 11,036 from 72,778 in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the number of people aged 65 or older at the end of last month was 4,797,100, accounting for 20.62 percent of the total population.

The latest data showed an alarming pace of decline in the number of births. A decade earlier, the total number of births was about 207,600, but that number was almost halved to a record-low 105,676 last year, while the number of people aged 65 or older rose to 3,106,105. The National Development Council last month forecast that the number of births could fall below 100,000 for the first time this year to about 94,000.

Taiwan officially became a “super-aged society” this year, with people aged 65 or older accounting for more than 20 percent of the population. What is concerning is that in just 10 years, the number of newborns plummeted nearly 50 percent while the elderly population jumped by more than 50 percent. The number of senior citizens is 1.8 times that of children aged 14 and younger, which stood at 2,616,236 as of the end of last month, the data showed.

Another set of data released by the ministry in June showed that, as of the first quarter of this year, Taiwan had approximately 923,400 households consisting exclusively of residents aged 65 or older, a record high. Of these, about 713,600 were households where elderly people lived alone, about 190,300 were households comprising an elderly couple and nearly 19,600 households were home to three or more senior residents. That means more than 77 percent of elderly people lived alone, while about 22 percent were elderly people living together and caring for each other.

In May, President William Lai (賴清德) announced an 18-point population strategy to counter the nation’s low birthrate and aging population. The policy, which is expected to require NT$380 billion (US$11.99 billion) in funding, addresses five priority areas: a secure start for families, strengthened childcare, investing more in education, family-friendly workplaces and easing housing pressures. However, it remains focused on incentivizing births.

As the number of elderly people has rapidly increased due to longer lifespans, the demographic shift and changes in family structure necessitate new policies to care for and protect the physical, mental and social well-being of elderly people. That is especially true because retirement communities are still uncommon in Taiwan. Major factors include people’s preference for staying in their own homes, concerns about monthly expenses, worries about a lack of freedom and personal privacy, and a dislike of institutional rules and unfamiliar surroundings.

In Taipei and New Taipei City, programs encouraging younger people to live with older people who are not their relatives and to care for each other have been implemented over the past few years. While these intergenerational living programs offer a solution to housing shortages, loneliness and elderly care challenges, they have had limited success. Unless the government offers more incentives, such as bigger rent discounts and more social resources, and create a friendlier community environment to enhance interactions and reciprocal exchanges among residents, the gap between actual implementation and expected outcomes would remain.

With a rapidly aging population, it is inevitable that the number of households in which elderly people live alone or with other older people and care for each other would continue to increase. Changing this trend through policy alone is difficult, while implementing non-familial intergenerational living programs faces cultural hurdles. Taiwan could learn from the experiences of developed countries, which have shown that it would be more viable for the government to allocate more resources to projects such as grocery shopping, home repairs and tax relief to reduce older people’s living and housing burdens, while arranging regular visits and building support networks to help them stay connected.