Concept 5: Senior Education
Taiwan's Council for Economic Planning and Development estimates that in another 20 years, the number of university enrollees will drop to 183,000, representing a decline of 43%. At the other extreme, there will be more and more demand for education among the elderly. Consequently, there will be new mechanisms for senior education.
Beginning in 2008, under policies to encourage universities to use existing resources, various universities have been offering senior education programs that reflect the special characteristics of the campus where they are offered. These elderly students have been put in classes together with younger students. With subsidies provided by the Ministry of Education, those who have reached 55 years of age-no matter how old they are or what their level of previous educational attainment-only have to spend NT$1500-3000 in tuition to experience one term of university life. Last year, some 56 schools participated, including Shih Chien University and Kaoshiung Normal University.
Fo Guang University's Department of Life and Cultural Studies on LOHAS has a seniors' curriculum that focuses on health maintenance and life philosophy. A typical offering is "healthy herbal cooking." Elders who take it exclaim, "I'll be able to cook for my daughter-in-law during her postpartum month." Then, there's the "Taiwan Folk Beliefs" class, which teaches people how to read bamboo divination sticks or perform Taoist exorcisms of spirits when children suffer ill health. Seniors will be able to make prompt use of the knowledge they've gained. There's even a course for making "essential life plans." It gets people to talk openly about life and death, explaining progressive conceptions about writing wills and living wills.
Apart from formal study, activities exclusively for seniors that combine travel and education are also very popular. Elderhostel is America's first and the world's largest organization for educational travel. Itineraries include exploring hot-air balloon travel with your grandchildren, participating in student orchestras, and researching topics in marine biology and oceanography. These kinds of courses satisfy seniors' thirst for "peak experiences" that involve risk-taking, sharing and creativity.
Concept 6: Family Deconstruction
According to a survey on elderly living situations by the Ministry of the Interior, the number of seniors living with their children has been steadily declining, dropping from 70% in 1986 to 57% in 2005. On the other hand, elderly married couples living on their own and elders living alone rose from 25.5% of all elderly in 1986 to 35.8% in 2005.
In the face of growing numbers of seniors living alone or with elderly spouses, Wu Jing-jyi argues that seniors must find meaning in their own lives. They can't continue to put their children at the center of their own existences. And whether or not an elderly person is single, having a group of close friends is very important.
"Relationships between friends, like those between spouses, have elements of intimacy, reciprocity and trust. But sometimes platonic relationships are superior because they are less complicated and less prone to jealousy. Friends may be better able to leverage emotion for mutual support."
Lin Wan-I, a professor of social work at National Taiwan University, points out that job-market trends are moving in step with urbanization and globalization. Admittedly, this means that children often can't be at their parents' side, but there are also more and more healthy seniors-physically capable of living on their own and economically independent-who would rather live on their own than move in with their married children.
When seniors do live with their children, there is often an unspoken "contract": First the grandparent will help raise the grandchildren, and then the children will take care of them in their last years. "Unfortunately, when the time comes that they do need care, their children won't necessarily be willing or financially able to provide it." Lin believes that the pragmatic way to handle this issue is to merge family support systems with the national pension system and community support systems. Only then will it be possible to foster a caring environment for all seniors until the ends of their lives.
In step with this aging society, family trees are turning into "bamboo staffs." With the declining birth rate, younger generations are contributing progressively fewer branches to the family tree. Moreover, people are living longer. As a consequence, having four generations alive in one family is becoming more common.
Lin points out that these bamboo families have some negative impacts on society. Children are more likely to grow up spoiled and lack social skills. Education, Lin says, needs to step up to ameliorate these trends. And with fewer or no siblings to share the burden of caring for parents, young people are going to carry greater individual burdens. Consequently, it is going to become more and more common for seniors to care for themselves or be cared for by the community. Traditional extended family networks (such as those connecting aunts and uncles with nieces and nephews) are shrinking, and with one-child families they will disappear altogether, meaning that families will no longer serve as "informal support networks." Consequently, people will have to look more often outside the family for formal support networks (such as by participating in churches or volunteer groups). Otherwise, they will become very isolated.
Stopping age discrimination
Chiu Tian-juh, a professor of social psychology at Shih Hsin University, points out that Taiwan is a society that severely lacks "consciousness of seniors' rights." Prejudice against the elderly is manifested in a multitude of small ways.
For instance, Shen Fu-hsiung, a former legislator and doctor, says that when he reached 70 last year his gym declined to renew his membership, claiming that "those over the age of 70 are a high-risk group." Shen, who had used the gym daily and was so fit he could run four kilometers in 20 minutes, couldn't help but feel bullied.
"Most people still hold to the belief that 'old people equal a social problem,' viewing the increase of the elderly population as a huge social burden," says Chiu. "Very few people see longer life spans as a great opportunity, and take time to consider the positive effects that old people can have on society."
The curtain is already being slowly lifted on life's resplendent third act. In that new realm, everyone will have a fresh start and have to relearn how to be the main characters in their own lives, exploring inner needs and finding opportunities to gain more satisfaction from intimate relationships, social participation and leisure activities.
The curtain has been pulled back, the drama has begun, and the leading actor is ascending to the stage.