Defamilisation/familisation measures and pensions in Hong Kong and Taiwan

Sam Wai Kam Yu1, Liam Foster2, Ruby Chui Man Chau3

  • 1Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong.

This article discusses the link between familisation measures (to lower the negative consequences of participating in the family as a care-provider) and defamilisation measures (to reduce individual responsibility for providing care in the family), and pensions for women. To enhance women's chance of having a secure retirement life, it makes two suggestions: government should provide defamilisation measures to assist women to accumulate pension income through work-based pension measures; and government should provide familisation measures extensively as an alternative to these measures. It also demonstrates how the case examples of Hong Kong and Taiwan provide support to these two suggestions.