Who Will Support the Older Persons? Changing Economic Lifecycle Reallocation in an Asian Economy

An-Chi Tung, Academia Sinica
Mun Sim Lai, United Nations Population Division

Intra-household transfers have long been important for old-age support in the Taiwanese economy, but are dwindling with continuous changes in social, economic, and demographic dimensions. With rapid population aging and an inadequate public safety net, old-age poverty calls for urgent policy attention. Yet research tracking changes in the support system throughout the lifecycle is in its infancy. Adopting the National Transfer Accounts approach, we use both micro and macro data to compare how old-age financing evolves. Results show that in 2005, public transfers and income from past savings replaced intra-household transfers and labor income, the two major sources in 1985.