Taiwan’s social welfare system stands out – it just doesn’t feel like it because low wages make the benefits look insufficient.
The News Lens
Date: 2018/02/08
By: Justin Hugo
This is the fourth in a 5 part series. You can start with part 1 here.
Social protections and saving graces
As touched on in part 3, Taiwan’s saving grace lies in its social welfare system.
Taiwan ranks eighth in a global list of unemployment benefit replacement rates, which
Yulin Huang
compare unemployment benefits received when not working to wages earned when last employed in a given year (in this case the year 2000). The list was compiled based on underlying data for this IMF working paper and does not take into account the eligibility of recipients for unemployment benefit, the duration they are able to receive it, or the conditions attached to its distribution.
Taiwan can be said to offer adequate protection, which at 60 percent of the previous salary is just below the Netherlands’ 70 percent, Sweden’s 68.5 percent and Norway’s 62.4 percent. In general, the Nordics and the Netherlands have high replacement rates, and they also start at a high wage base. [FULL STORY]
