Women and Retirees in the Workforce Overview of

Women and Retirees in the Workforce -Overview of R. O. C. Council of Labor Affairs Hsin-Ni Lin & Ching- I Yang December 2009 1

Content 1. Background 2. Strategies of Promoting Employment 3. Challenges in The Future 4. Conclusion

1. Background

u. Women in the workforce l. Labor force by gender Unit: Thousand Persons Year Total Male Female 2005 10, 371 6, 012 4, 359 2006 10, 522 6, 056 4, 467 2007 10, 713 6, 116 4, 597 2008 10, 853 6, 173 4, 680 compared with 2007(%) +1. 31 +0. 93 +1. 81 compared with 1998(%) +13. 69 +6. 80 +24. 24

u. Women in the workforce l. Labor force participation rate by gender Unit: % Year Total Male Female 2005 57. 78 67. 62 48. 12 2006 57. 92 67. 35 48. 68 2007 58. 25 67. 24 49. 44 2008 58. 28 67. 09 49. 67 compared with 2007(%) + 0. 03 -0. 15 +0. 23 compared with 1998(%) + 0. 24 -3. 49 + 4. 07

u. Women in the workforce l. Female labor force participation rate : Change in ratio 1998 -2008 by age group % age Over 65

l. Female labor force participation rate by age group from selected countries in 2008 R. O. C ROK Japan U. S. A age

u. Mid-to-Old/Elderly Workers l. Labor force Unit: Thousand Persons, % 45～ 64 Over 65 Year Total Number of persons Rate (%) 2005 10, 371 3, 091 29. 8 158 1. 5 2006 10, 522 3, 189 30. 3 170 1. 6 2007 10, 713 3, 339 31. 2 187 1. 7 2008 10, 853 3, 481 32. 1 191 1. 8 2009 10, 898 3, 560 32. 7 193 1. 8 (Jan. -Oct. )

u. Mid-to-Old/Elderly Workers l. Labor force participation rate Unit: ％ Year Total 45～ 64 Over 65 2004 57. 66 59. 96 7. 42 2005 57. 78 60. 24 7. 27 2006 57. 92 60. 01 7. 58 2007 58. 25 60. 55 8. 13 2008 58. 28 60. 83 8. 10

u. Mid-to-Old/Elderly Workers l. Labor force-Employed Unit：thousand persons Year Total 45～ 64 Over 65 2005 9, 942 3, 004 157 2006 10, 111 3, 115 169 2007 10, 294 3, 263 187 2008 10, 403 3, 393 191 2009 (Jan. -Oct. ) 10, 259 3, 421 192

u. Mid-to-Old/Elderly Workers l. Labor force-Unemployed Unit：thousand persons Year Total 45～ 64 Over 65 2005 428 86 1 2006 411 74 0 2007 419 75 0 2008 450 88 0 2009 (Jan. -Oct. ) 639 139 0

2. Strategies of Promoting Employment

u. Women in the workforce l. Establishes the friendly family and the work conditions n. Parental leave without payment üThe regulation of the Gender Equality in Employment Act. üApply for parental leave without payment before any of their children reach the age of three years old. üThe period of this leave is before their children reach the age of three years. n. The parental leave allowance üEstablish national supportive system for family care üThe Employment Insurance Act üProvide parental leave allowance for 6 months n. Encourage enterprises to provide friendly working environment

u. Women in the workforce l. Business Start-up Guidance To assist the 20 -year-old to 65 -year-old women or 65 years of national micro-enterprise, and raise labor participation rate. Enhance knowledge and skills of entrepreneurship n Low-Interest Loans n Business Start-up Counseling n Business Start-up training Courses

u. Women in the workforce l Provide employment services and vocational training n Employment services üStrengthen employment counseling and provide wage subsidies üCombined with non-governmental organizations and government sectors to promote women's employment n Vocational training üTake multiple training resources üEncourage workers self-study

u. Mid-to-Old/Elderly Workers l Extend the retirement age n Protect the working right of 60 to 65 -year-old labors n Improve the stability of employment status l Modify the pension system n From defined-benefit system to defined-contribution n Strengthen to focus on the rights and interests of labor

u. Mid-to-Old/Elderly Workers l Extend the amount of unemployment benefits for the elderly persons n Extend the unemployment benefits to 9 months from 6 months for the labor 45 and over labors l Provide individual-oriented professional employment services n Assesses needs, barriers, characteristics and potential, understand the vocational aptitude and willingness, provide the depth-based and individual-oriented professional employment services and keep track of the cases

3. Challenges in The Future

u. Women in the workforce l. Core values n. Gender equality and dignity of labor l. Vision n. Enhance rights of female labor n. Stop gender discrimination n. Strengthen social benefits of females n. Strengthen female empowerment

u. Women in the workforce l Protect the rights and interests of domestic service workers. l Build state support system for families l Advocate gender equality and the decent work l Strengthen women's empowerment n Continue to enhance women's entrepreneurship n Increase the female technology professionals development n Promote women's vocational training n Change the traditional stereotype

u. Mid-to-Old/Elderly Workers l Create a friendly living environment for senior citizens l Advocacy to stop age discrimination l Reform social security and retirement system of old age security system l Establishes labor working conditions to meet the senior labors’ needs l Create the flexible and diversified job opportunities to meet the older persons and the elderly lifestyle and needs l Promote lifelong learning, labor, career planning and retirement preparation, and provide vocational training by multi-channel

4. Conclusion

u. Build the work environment which “Equality”, “Humanity”, “Security” and “Dignity” u. Gender mainstreaming u. Reduce the obstacle of obtaining employment u. Build the friendly high-quality job environment

Thank you very much 24