Taiwan sees low labour participation rate from older workers

Taiwan’s labour participation rate for people aged 65 years and older is 8.8%, falling behind those in South Korea, Japan and the US, with rates ranging from 19 to 36%. 

In contrast, middle-aged workers, ranging from 45 to 59 years old, have a labour participation rate of 84.1%, which is relatively high compared to 82.2% in the US, and 79.9% in South Korea. Japan’s labour participation rate for this age group is still higher, at 88.5%. 

In 2020, the number of middle-aged and senior employees was 4.8 million, an increase of 0.5% from the previous year and 1.4% since 2008 based on official government data, according to the Ministry of Labour. 

Among Taiwan’s middle-aged and older populations, some 5.74 million people were unemployed last year. Of that, 56.6% gave “age” as the reason, while 25.7% cited “housework” and 7.6% cited “adequate family finances”, writes Taiwan News. 

READ: Taiwan extends subsidy for workers with pay cut

In June, Taiwan’s unemployment rate rose to 4.8%, increasing 0.69 percentage points from a month earlier, according to data from the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics. This was attributed to COVID-19 curbs and the graduation season, which saw an influx of new graduates entering the job market.