NUMBERS TALK:
A recent poll showed that a significant majority of respondents oppose the KMT’s recent pension amendment drafts

  • By Lee Wen-hsin /
    Staff reporter

Almost half the public are opposed to suspension of the pension reform program, according to a poll conducted by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation.

Draft amendments for two pension laws proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to raise pensions for retired civil servants and public school teachers, and end the 10-year period of pension cuts that began in 2018, passed the legislature on Dec. 12.

Under the amendments, income replacement ratios for retirees, depending on recipients’ years of service (ranging from 15 to 40 years), would be restored to their 2023 levels — 39 to 71.5 percent — up from this year’s 36 to 68.5 percent.

Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times

The amendments reversed the 2018 reform enacted by then-president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration, which would have gradually reduced the ratios over the course of 10 years from 45 to 77.5 percent in 2018, to 30 to 62.5 percent by 2029.

In the polling results released on Friday, 47.6 percent of respondents said they do not support the amendments, 35.5 percent said they support them, 6.8 percent said they did not know about the amendments, and 10.0 percent said they have no opinion.

A detailed breakdown showed 27.9 percent said they highly disagree, 19.7 percent said they do not agree, 13.5 percent said they agreed, and 22 percent said they highly agreed.

Except for those aged 20-24, a majority in all other age groups oppose the latest amendments, foundation chairman Michael You (游盈隆) said.

Across all education levels, a clear majority oppose the amendments, he said, adding that by occupational background, with the exception of farmers and students, a majority in all professions oppose the amendment.

It is noteworthy that “there is no consensus among military personnel, civil servants, and teachers themselves, with opponents slightly outnumbering supporters,” he said.

Looking at party affiliation, supporters of the ruling and opposition parties hold sharply divergent views on the amendment to halt the pension cuts, he added.

The poll was conducted from Monday to Wednesday via home phone and cellphone sampling. There were 1,077 valid respondents with a margin of error of 2.99 percentage points.

Additional reporting by CNA