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Chengwei Hsieh, National Chi Nan University, TaiwanAbstract
This study conducts a narrative review grounded in a life-course perspective to examine how Taiwan and Japan structure divergent policy pathways for older adults' re-employment. Drawing on legislative documents, government reports, and academic literature, the review analyzes how institutional arrangements shape late-career transitions across the life span. Japan's mandate-driven system produces a highly standardized pathway. The legally required extension of employment to age 70 establishes a universal transition at age 60, yet it often results in a noticeable “salary cliff” and occupational downgrading. These mechanisms reorganize late-life work trajectories in ways that limit individual agency. In contrast, Taiwan's incentive-based model generates a fragmented and stratified pathway. Re-employment opportunities largely depend on individual's accumulated human and economic capital, allowing high-skilled older workers to continue with greater flexibility, while low-skilled workers face more precarious exits. This pattern reinforces cumulative disadvantages over the life course. Overall, despite their contrasting institutional logics—state-directed in Japan and market-oriented in Taiwan—both models reflect a tension between regulation and limited support. A life-course perspective highlights how current policies do not fully enable self-determined and dignified late-life work trajectories. Future policy development should move beyond narrow labor-utilitarian objectives to promote meaningful and equitable pathways for older adults.
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Conference: AGen2026Stream: Aging and Gerontology
This paper is part of the AGen2026 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Hsieh C. (2026) Later-Life Re-employment Pathways: A Life-Course Narrative Review of Taiwan and Japan ISSN: 2432-4183 The Asian Conference on Aging & Gerontology 2026: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 169-176) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2432-4183.2026.13
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2432-4183.2026.13
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