Premier Sean Chen today said a preliminary plan has been drafted to institutionalize the government's year-end pension bonuses for retired civil servants, teachers and military personnel. The Executive Yuan will explain this plan to the Kuomintang legislative caucus to build support before announcing the contents to the public.
The plan comes after more than a month of intense discussion among Cabinet officials as well as exchanges between the premier and President Ma Ying-jeou. It proposes setting future bonuses based on this year's level, and making adjustments as warranted by economic conditions.
According to a survey of public opinion published today by the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission, 83 percent of respondents were aware of the debate surrounding the bonus, indicating the wide extent of concern by citizens. A full 79 percent affirmed the Executive Yuan's policy of tending to the economically disadvantaged and families of those injured or killed while on duty.
Asked if the government should cease distribution of the bonuses, 58 percent said yes while 28 percent answered no. When asked if the bonuses should continue, 20 percent said it should while 66 percent said it should not. Seventy percent agreed with the policy to limit bonuses only to those with monthly pensions of less than NT$20,000 (US$683) and families of those injured or killed on duty, while 18 percent disagreed.
The poll also asked participants about a "scaled bonus" scheme that gradually reduces the bonus for higher pension brackets. For example, the year-end bonus would be 1.5 months for those earning monthly pensions of NT$20,000 or less, one month for those at NT$20,000-NT$25,000, a half month for those at NT$25,000-NT$30,000, and nil for those at NT$30,000 or above. Forty-seven percent expressed support for this scheme while 38 percent did not. Also, 26 percent supported broadening eligibility requirements under the scaled bonus system to qualify more retirees, while 60 percent disapproved.
When asked about the method of distribution, 10 percent said the bonus should be discontinued for everyone, another 10 percent said the distribution should continue as is, 64 percent supported the disadvantaged and injured/killed-in-service policy, and 11 percent preferred the scaled bonus scheme.
The poll sampled 1,095 adults in Taiwan from December 7 to 8; it has a 95-percent confidence level with a 2.96-percent margin of error. Respondents were chosen by random generation of the last two digits of telephone numbers. The poll results were weighted by gender, age, education and region of the respondents to accurately reflect the makeup of Taiwan's population.