Who supports the elderly? The changing economic lifecycle reallocation in Taiwan, 1985 and 2005

Ensuring the economic security of the elderly population in Taiwan has become a pressing policy concern because of rapid population aging and other large-scale socio-economic changes. It is therefore necessary to understand how the elderly have financed their later years. To study how old-age financing has evolved in Taiwan, we have adopted the National Transfer Accounts approach in order to estimate four major financing channels in 1985 and 2005. Our results show that public transfers and asset-based reallocations have gradually replaced family support and labor income. This suggests the need for individuals to save before retirement, and for the state to take a larger role in the caring for elderly in the future.