TAIPEI (TVBS News) — As Taiwan's birthrate continues to decline, the population is getting older while the number of single-person households is getting higher.
This has many worried about the adjustments they need to make to maintain a healthy lifestyle for the latter half of their lives.
Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital clinical nurse Tan Tun-tzu remarked that exercising daily and eating enough protein is very important to her as she wishes to be active until her last day.
"If we're bedridden for 8, 9 years, this is not only torture for ourselves, but for our family too," she said
Nowadays, more and more people choose to remain single and live alone.
According to reports from the Ministry of Interior, single-person households have increased from 8.5% to 14% in the past 20 years, surpassing 3 million households in 2021.
Meanwhile, the number of elders living alone has also risen. In the second quarter of 2022, the number of households whose occupants are over 65 tallied at 680,000.
Households with elders living alone also increased from 430,000 to 517,000 between 2020 and 2022.
Because of this, experts call on the public to make early preparations as most would probably age alone in the future.
James Hsueh, a professor at the Graduate Institute of National Development of National Taiwan University (NTU) pointed out that Taiwan is on the track to become more inclined to become reliant on institutional long-term care in the future.
Psychologists also advise the general public to brace themselves for the possibility of living alone later in life, meaning preparing a retirement plan, developing a hobby, and
updating medical information to ensure a smooth transition.
