PDF(2.7mb) - 國家政策研究基金會

90 Taiwan Development Perspectives 2009
system is the decline in population growth. It will entail
enormous debt for the next generation and even huge
liabilities to the government. In this sense, the actuarial
finance system is important. The premium and contributions
need to be dynamically adjusted according to
the actuarial result. The government should rule out
political considerations, especially during election time.
The insured have to pay normally. Then there will be
no hidden debt.
A small number of social welfare organizations
have protested that NPI is a mutual-help system for
vulnerable people. The pension is available to only
those people who are required to participate: i.e.,
housewives, farmers, and self-employed people. If voluntary
participation is permitted, people will have better
protection on retirement. If public functionaries,
workers and servicemen who are covered by their respective
insurance were allowed to sign up for NPI as
well, they would increase income replacement after
retirement. Then it may become a real universal basic
pension.
Basic Pension
Ultimately, NPI aims to provide universal old age
economic security. Taiwan has to strive for providing
all the people 65 years old or older with enough support
to keep their minimum standard of living. This is in
keeping with the spirit of universal welfare state and
social security.
The NPI program, which was launched in 2008,
benefits 3,530,000 of the disadvantaged people. They
include unemployed workers, students, housewives and
the physically and mentally disadvantaged people. Military
personnel, civil servants, and jobholders are excluded.
Social welfare groups argue that the program offers
a mere small-cale pension scheme. They criticize it
as a mutual-help system for the vulnerable people.
They insist that the principle of social security is for the
rich to help the poor to achieve the effect of mutual
assistance, and want a wider participation. They believe
the more participants the better. They also fear that the
‘small-scale pension scheme’ runs counter to that principle,
wondering how long it will last. NPI leaves out
economically advantageous people, such as civil servants,
military personnel and teachers. For lack of more
contributions, they argue, the program will go bankrupt.
Obviously, the administration does not want to face
these problems. It is more concerned about whether
workers would have a pension and servicemen and civil
servants enjoy high-income replacement. The administration
believes equality and justice will be lost, if they
are allowed to participate in the program.
In fact, to include public functionaries, teachers,
military personnel and labor in the NPI scheme is to
protect their basic civil rights rather than to allow them
to have ‘double protection.’ The scheme is supposed to
be one for a basic pension, separate from occupational
insurance, like the insurance for civil servants, servicemen
and labor.
The World Bank has suggested a three-tier model
of old age protection to resolve the problem of old-age
poverty. The government should develop a multi-level
system to provide more security for the old. All people
should be allowed to sign up for NPI. As the pension
only supports retirees to maintain the minimum standard
of living, the government needs to encourage people
to work. When people are working they are entitled
to an occupational insurance. It stands to reason that
people shall have more provision in retirement and
avoid pension poverty.
Taiwan has 8.7 million workers, whose retirement
payment is less than 50 percent of income replacement.
That is far below 70 percent considered enough by the
World Bank to maintain a decent standard of living.
The government should encourage labor to sign up for
NPI to top up their retirement income. In addition, retired
workers entitled to retirement benefits were given
elderly welfare subsistence allowances. They lost the
subsidies when the NPI program was launched. Nor
could they receive pension payment unless they sub-