Older Workers and the Circumstances, Barriers and Meanings Of

‘TO WORK OR NOT TO WORK? – OLDER WORKERS AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES, BARRIERS AND MEANINGS OF EMPLOYMENT IN TAIWAN By Pei Ling (Lillian) Huang A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Social Policy College of Social Sciences The University of Birmingham June 2013 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT The ageing labour force has become an unavoidable issue in the Taiwanese labour market. While encouraging the employment of older people has become a crucial policy target in most advanced countries, labour participation rates for older Taiwanese, as well as public intervention, still remain at a fairly low level. Moreover, little attention has been paid to understanding why older Taiwanese are consistently less likely to retain work. By using mixed-methods, this thesis seeks to explore the reasons why there are low labour participation rates among older Taiwanese in relation to individual and socio-economic contexts. Two distinct groups and problematic employment circumstances are identified here: Group 1: ‘low employment rates and low incomes’, including those aged 55 and over, women and the low educated; Group 2: ‘high employment rates and high unemployment rates’, including men, the middle and highly educated, single or divorced and living in urban or manufacturing areas. Moreover, it is recognised that employment barriers in relation to human capital/working ability/employability are likely to be significant factors that reduce labour participation rates for older Taiwanese. Most significantly, it finds that there exists a weak ‘to-work’ social attitude but a strong ‘not-to-work’ social attitude in Taiwan. As a result, the importance and meanings of employment for older Taiwanese are undervalued and older people’s employment opportunities are overwhelmingly limited. Thus, it is suggested that the Taiwanese government’s awareness and responsibility to increase the employment opportunities for older workers should be addressed. It not only has to address relevant human capital issues but also has to take the social attitudes towards the employment of older Taiwanese into policy consideration. In addition, by taking lessons from the Active Labour Market Policy in advanced countries, the current public employment services need to be reformed, such as by integrating long term and short term programmes; creating direct incentives and essential sanctions for both job-seekers and employers; or increasing flexibility upon service delivery. Overall, it is certain that a specific employment service programme for older people is required. However, as has been questioned, the effectiveness of a one-size-fits-all employment policy and labour market approach across nations should be reconsidered. Therefore, policy must consider how to reflect on local contexts as well as the diverse public attitudes. iii CONTENT 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Ageing in Taiwan and older Taiwanese’ employment ....................................... 1 1.2 Meanings of older people’s employment in different contexts ........................ 5 1.3 The research ....................................................................................................... 9 1.4 Outline of this thesis ......................................................................................... 12 2 THEORY, FACTORS AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONTEXTS IN TAIWAN................................. 14 THEORETICAL MODELS AND FACTORS ..................................................................................... 16 2.1 Human capital, workability and employability ................................................. 16 2.2 Social capital and ageing culture ...................................................................... 25 2.3 Influential factors on the employment and retirement of older people ......... 29 2.4 Types of older workers’ employment circumstances ...................................... 35 THE TAIWANESE SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONTEXT ........................................................................ 37 2.5 The social welfare context and older people’s well-being ............................... 38 2.6 Economic context and structural changes to the labour market ..................... 43 2.7 Family culture and gender patterns ................................................................. 45 OLDER TAIWANESE LABOUR PARTICIPATION AND EARLY EXIT CONDITIONS ......................... 54 2.8 Low LFPRs for the older Taiwanese .................................................................. 54 2.9 Low unemployment rates for older Taiwanese? .............................................. 56 2.10 The early exit trend after age 55 ..................................................................... 57 2.11 In summary ....................................................................................................... 59 3 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................ 62 3.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 62 3.2 Rationale of methodology, research design and practicality ........................... 62 3.3 Debates between quantitative and qualitative research ................................. 68 3.4 Mixed methods and research designs .............................................................. 71 CONDUCTING THE QUANTITATIVE STUDY ............................................................................... 77 3.5 Introduction to official data used ..................................................................... 80 3.6 Analysis of quantitative data ............................................................................ 82 CONDUCTING A QUALITATIVE STUDY ...................................................................................... 85 iv 3.7 Decision making of participants ....................................................................... 85 3.8 Sampling strategy and characteristics of participants ..................................... 89 3.9 Recruitment of participants ............................................................................. 94 3.10 Lessons from the pilot interviews .................................................................... 96 3.11 Role of interviewers and interactive relationships .......................................... 98 3.12 Data analysis ................................................................................................... 102 3.13 Ethical considerations and research limitations ............................................ 105 3.14 Summary ......................................................................................................... 107 4 FACTORS AND TYPES OF EMPLOYMENT CIRCUMSTANCES AMONG OLDER TAIWANESE 108 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 108 DEMAND AND SUPPLY FACTORS AMONG OLDER TAIWANESE WITHIN THE PESS ................ 109 4.2 Ratios between supply and demand sides within the PESS ........................... 111 4.3 Ratio of job vacancy utilisation ...................................................................... 113 4.4 Ratios of successful job-seeking within the PESS ........................................... 117 4.5 Probability of gaining work by age ................................................................. 120 4.6 In summary: factors relating to the possibility of employment of older Taiwanese within the PESS ................................................................................................. 123 FACTORS INFLUENCING EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS FOR OLDER TAIWANESE .................... 125 4.7 Employed older workers................................................................................. 126 4.8 Unemployed older workers ............................................................................ 127 4.9 Economically inactive older populations ........................................................ 128 4.10 In summary: factors relating to the employment condition of older Taiwanese 129 FACTORS OF EMPLOYMENT CIRCUMSTANCES FOR OLDER TAIWANESE’S ............................ 131 4.11 By age ............................................................................................................. 132 4.12 By gender ........................................................................................................ 133 4.13 By educational qualification ........................................................................... 133 4.14 By region ......................................................................................................... 134 4.15 By marital status ............................................................................................. 134 4.16 By occupation ................................................................................................

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