Taipei Times
Date: Mar 25, 2016
By: Abraham Gerber / Staff reporter
Pensions paid to veterans, civil servants and teachers are “outrageously
National Taiwan University professor of social work Lin Wan-yi, second right, speaks at a forum on pension reform in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
high,” New Power Party (NPP) Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said yesterday, pledging his party’s support for any pension reform proposed by the incoming administration of president-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
“The pension situation has already reached the point where it is almost burning our eyebrows,” Huang said at a forum organized by the Chinese-language Business Today, which released a survey that found 85 percent of legislators support pension reform.
“Reform has to start immediately before the system goes bankrupt,” Huang said, adding that “outrageously high” benefits are being paid to veterans, civil servants and teachers, which reach as high as 90 percent of their regular salaries even though they usually retire in their 40s or early 50s.
“When you look at that figure, it is clear why national pensions have run into such a big problem,” Huang said, calling for members “of all professions” to support pension reform.
Pensions vary based on profession, with benefits for government employees substantially higher on average than those awarded to people in other professions, Huang said. [FULL STORY]
