More than 30 percent say they spend birthdays on their own

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/07/17
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — More than 50 percent of the elderly in Taiwan feel forlorn, with those living in Yunlin County expressing the highest degree of loneliness, according to the latest survey.

Over 30 percent of seniors spend their birthdays alone, 14.5 percent have dinner by themselves, and 9.4 percent have to undergo surgery without the company of their family and friends, the study suggests. Around 80 percent of the respondents crave for companions, said 56789 Age Lab and the Taiwan Active Aging Association (AAA) at a joint news conference on Friday (July 17).

The research, which gauges senior loneliness with six behavioral indicators in the country's 22 cities and counties, finds that seniors in Yunlin are the most depressed over loneliness, followed by Taitung County and outlying Penghu County. Hualien, Changhua, and Keelung are the top municipalities where elders feel the least lonely, wrote CNA.    [FULL  STORY]