A Mega Survey on Elderly Care and Financial Planning：The Current Situation and Challenges of Caring for the Elderly in Taiwan！

Date：2023/06/09
Information source: Ucarer Taiwan

      A Mega Survey "Elderly Care and Financial Planning Survey", jointly conducted by the Department of Finance of Ming Chuan University and "Ucarer Taiwan" (the first third-party elderly care matching platform in Taiwan), was distributed to a sample of nearly 100,000 members of "Ucarer Taiwan" via email, and almost 500 responses were received. 

      According to this survey, the responsibility of caring for the elderly in Taiwanese society is no longer solely borne by the first son or all sons taking turns. Now, as many as 44% of families have chosen to share the responsibility of caring for the elderly among all their children, which is the highest proportion. 32% of respondents, ranking second, based on their children’s ability to share the responsibility of caring for the parents. And even 12% of respondents believe that elderly people should take care of themselves, forming a "self-reliant" caregiving model. These data results indicate that the concept of Taiwanese families bearing the burden of elderly care is quietly changing.

The survey also found that although most family members can share their responsibility of caring with siblings, nearly 68% of respondents still feel pressure about caring for their elderly relatives, with over 40% of respondents feeling significant pressure and 14% even feeling overwhelmed. This shows that caring for the elderly remains a significant challenge for modern families. For Taiwanese families, which value filial piety and traditional ethics, this situation is worse than other countries’ families because the pressure comes from both tangible and intangible negative effects and can even cause irreparable harm.

 
 
      The pressure of caring for the elderly actually comes from all sides, including financial pressure, lack of time for companionship, taking care of daily living, emotional stress, or the challenge of balancing work and caregiving. Among the surveyed families, the most common stressors were emotional stress (65.1%) and the challenge of balancing between work and caregiving (63.1%). These are common issues in the "sandwich generation". If these problems cannot be effectively resolved, they can easily lead to family tragedies (such as emotional problems).

This survey also shows that Taiwanese families have a limited understanding of wealth heritage tools, with a focus on insurance (77.8%) and living wills (70.0%). The relatively new tool of eldercare trusts is only understood by less than 50% of families surveyed. However, up to 60% of respondents have shown an interest in attending information seminars on eldercare trusts, while more than 40% are interested in how to transfer real estate to the next generation.

This survey has also attracted attention from all sectors of society. Yang Chung-jen, associate professor of the Department of Finance at Ming Chuan University, the co-organizer of the survey, pointed out that Taiwan is facing challenges brought about by an aging society. How households can accumulate financial resources for cross-generational care and make good use of financial innovation and care platforms to allow family members to fulfill their responsibility of taking care of the elderly effectively, which is an important issue that must be seriously faced by the people in Taiwan. The co-organizer, "Ucarer Taiwan", also called on the government, businesses (including financial, technology, manufacturing, and other industries), and households to work together to increase society's attention to caring for the elderly, as well as improve the quality of life, and reduce the burden and pressure on family members.

 
Image One: The "Ucarer Taiwan" platform can effectively help families with elderly care needs find "suitable" caregivers to provide services on a "safety" basis. Users can easily make an appointment for care services anytime and anywhere just by using the app on their phone sets.

Image 2: Burned out between work and caregiving? Solve the caregiving challenge of the sandwich generation by finding the suitable caregiver on the mobile app, giving you more choices for home care.

For detailed information (media inquiries only), please contact:
PR Contact: Jason Chiu
TEL : 02-2363-5100#201
Email: jasonchiu@ucarer.com.tw
Ucarer website: https://ucarer.tw/

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