The number of recipients of the Old-Age Benefits of the labor insurance program has passed the 3,700,000 mark.

Since the inception of the Old-Age Benefits of the labor insurance program in 1950, the number of receivers has passed the 3,700,000 mark this year. Among them, 3,125,000 received a lump-sum payment, with a total of over NT$2.2 trillion disbursed. On the other hand, since the launch of the Old-Age Pension Benefit in 2009, the number of receivers has reached 577,000, with a total of over NT$220 billion disbursed. With the salaries of the insured persons increasing over the years, the average amount of the old-age benefits also increases each year. The average amount of the lump-sum old-age benefit has increased from the NT$2,000 during the first 10 years of its implementation to NT$1,250,000 at the end of July 2014. As for the old-age pension benefit, the average amount received by each person per month has risen from the NT$12,000 at its implementation to NT$15,000 at the present time.

In order to take care of the insured persons in their old age, Pension Benefit was created when the labor insurance was implemented in 1950. Insured persons, both male and female, were not eligible to apply for a Pension Benefit until they retired at the age of 60. In 1958, Pension Benefits turned into Old-Age Retirement Benefits with the same requirements, except that insured mine workers who were 55 years or older and had worked for a total of 5 or more years in the mines were eligible to apply. When the Labor Insurance Act was amended in 1979, Old-Age Benefits as we know now was implemented and different application requirements were created for male and female insured persons. Male insured persons had to be 60 years or older to be eligible, while females had to be 55 years or older, and each person had to have paid one or more years of premium to apply. Besides, if the insured person had paid 10 or more years of premium, he had to be 55 years or older and she had to be 50 years or older when retired to apply for the reduced old-age benefit. The Labor Insurance Act was amended again in 1988, abolishing the aforementioned requirements for the reduced old-age benefits. At that time insured persons had to be 55 years or older when they retired and had to have 15 or more years of insurance record to apply for the old-age benefits. Also, insured persons who retired after working under the same insured unit for 25 years and those who worked for 5 years in special positions that were dangerous or physically demanding and retired at the age of 55, were eligible to apply for the old-age benefits. As of December 19, 2001, the requirements were even more relaxed; an insured person who had worked for a total of 25 years or more under various insured units and retired at the age of 50 was also eligible to apply.

In addition, the application period for the old-age benefits was relaxed in 2009. Regardless of how many years ago he/she surrendered his/her labor insurance, an insured person can apply for the old-age benefits--based on the years of his/her insurance coverage--as soon as he/she reaches the qualifying age. Besides, due to the yearly increase in the average lifespan of ROC citizens, the established one-time payment of the old-age benefit can no longer meet the workers’ post-retirement old age needs. Thus the labor insurance pension system was implemented that same year, providing three types of pensions: the old-age pension, the permanent disability pension, and the survivors pension. The old-age pension became the source of long-term financial security for retired workers. The insured persons only need to have 15 years of insurance coverage and reach the age of 60 (Note) to receive monthly old-age pension payments. An insured person can also choose to put off his/her application and opt for Delayed Old-Age Pension or apply for Reduced Old-Age Pension before the age of 60, depending on his/her personal retirement plans. Since the implementation of the labor insurance pension system more than 5 years ago, over 70 percent of the applicants have chosen to receive monthly old-age pension payments, which means the pension system has won approval and support from the majority of insured persons.

Note: The qualifying age for the old-age pension will be raised by one year in 2018, and then raised by one year every two years until the qualifying age reaches 65.

Table 1 

The Number of Applicants for the Lump-Sum Old-Age Benefit and the Amount Disbursed Each Year

 Table 2

The Number of Applicants for the Old-Age Pension Benefit
and the Amount Disbursed Each Year