An organization representing families in need of caregivers for the elderly and disabled says that Taiwan's system of hiring migrant caregivers is too expensive and complicated, leading to a large black market of undocumented workers.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Taiwan needs to reform its system for hiring migrant caregivers for the disabled and elderly.
00:06That's the message delivered at the legislature by an organization representing families who
00:11need caregivers.
00:13Every salary for a caregiver is 700 US dollars.
00:17So we are compared like they are making here in Taiwan is four to five times more compared
00:22from what they make back home.
00:25But the problem is when they come to Taiwan, they think the salary is not good enough.
00:30But if we pay as much as the local ones, we cannot afford it.
00:34And because it's not enough, we will just find the illegal migrant workers in the black
00:38markets.
00:39For me, for example, it would be much cheaper and easier for me to hire the illegal ones.
00:45Do you want to encourage all the people in Taiwan to hire some illegal ones instead of
00:50going through the right process?
00:52They say that families in need shouldn't have to pay a required monthly fee of about 60
00:56US dollars while hiring migrant caregivers, which they say is a hidden tax on the disabled.
01:02And they say paying a monthly salary of about 680 US dollars per month to migrant caregivers
01:07is already a hardship for many families, leading many to hire undocumented workers illegally.
01:13Taiwan is projected to become a super aged society next year, meaning 20 percent of people
01:18will be over the age of 65.
01:20And that number is only expected to increase over time, meaning more families will be looking
01:25to hire caregivers for elderly relatives.
01:28Balancing the need for caregivers with concerns about illegal immigration and Taiwan's low
01:33average salaries, this is an issue that affects families in their homes as well as their pocketbooks.
01:39Hu Huahong and Chris Gorin for Taiwan Plus.