誰來照顧老人與小孩？家庭結構與政府角色

Who Is Responsible for Taking Care of the Elderly and Children？Family Structure and Government's Role

李俐葶(Li-Ting Li)

指導教授 ： 彭祐宜

國立臺北大學/公共事務學院/財政學系/碩士(2012年)

摘要

當今少子化及人口老化之問題，加上家庭結構變遷及婦女勞動參與率上升，個人為適應如此變遷的社會，勢必反映於社會安全支出偏好，政府是否應提供老人和小孩之照顧體系成為目前重要的課題。Kotlikoff & Spivak (1981)提出結婚或組成家庭能提供風險分擔及照顧功能，因此，不同的婚姻及家庭狀態，對照顧政策會有不同的態度。然而，實證文獻中鮮少討論該態度的決定因素，亦未將家庭及婚姻與此態度連結，因此本文欲檢驗個人的婚姻家庭狀態對政府照顧責任態度之影響，並假設家庭結構越完整，家庭對政府提供之照顧需求越低，越不偏好政府提供照顧政策。
　　本文使用2006年「臺灣社會變遷基本調查」第五期第二次「家庭組」之資料，並採用序列機率模型(ordered probit model)分析個人特質、家庭結構、家庭價值觀及社會經濟變數等對政府照顧老人與小孩責任態度之影響。實證結果發現，臺灣女性相對於男性較不偏好政府提供老人的醫療和照護及小孩的教育費用，但卻較偏好老人的生活需求及小孩的養育和照顧政策。婚姻狀況方面，有伴侶、已婚有偶者相較其他人，偏好政府提供老人照顧服務、但不偏好小孩照顧政策。在失去婚姻資源移轉關係後，離婚或分居者相較於單身，多偏好政府提供老人照顧政策及小孩照顧政策；然而，喪偶者卻較不偏好老人及小孩之照顧政策。不論何種婚姻狀況下，有子者多不偏好政府提供老人生活需求服務，反映出養兒防老之觀念；但就女性而言，不論何種婚姻狀況，只要有子者皆偏好政府提供小孩的養育和照顧服務，及小孩的教育費用政策。另外，家庭具有風險分攤功能，同住人數越多，越不偏好老人照顧政策，但卻較偏好政府提供小孩的照顧服務；個人特質中，年齡、自評健康、教育、生活滿意度及自營者亦為影響照顧責任偏好之重要因素。
　　綜合上述發現，本文之假說在臺灣並無法完全適用，此反映了東西文化之差異，及臺灣家庭中常存男女不同之性別角色，足以影響人們對於政府提供照顧政策之偏好態度。

關鍵字

照顧責任偏好 ； 家庭結構 ； 政府照顧角色

並列摘要

Facing low birth rate and population aging, along with changes of family structure and rising female labor force participation rates in Taiwan, individuals’ preferences for social security must change to adapt such a fast-changing society. Whether the government is responsible for providing care systems for the elderly and children has become an important subject now. Kotlikoff & Spivak (1981) point out that marriage or family can provide risk-sharing functions; thus, we argue that different marriage or family status could affect individuals’ attitudes towards the government’s responsibilities for taking care of the elderly and children. However, the existing empirical literature has not paid much attention to the factors affecting the attitudes and rarely linked marriage or family structure to the attitudes. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine how one’s marriage and family status influences his or her attitudes toward the government's responsibilities for taking care of the elderly and children. We hypothesize that the more complete one’s family structure is, the less likely he or she would think that it’s the government rather than family itself which has the responsibilities to provide care for the elderly and children.

This study uses the 2006 Taiwan Social Change Surveys (TSCS), Family Section, and employs an ordered probit model. The estimation results show that compared to males, females are less likely to prefer the government providing for health care of the elderly and educational expanses of children, but are more likely to prefer the government being responsible for livelihood of the elderly and upbringing of children. Compared to other marital status, those who have partners or are married, are more likely to prefer the government-based old-age care services, but are less likely to prefer the government-based children care systems. Compared to single individuals, individuals who are divorced or separated are more likely to favor the government’s elderly care systems and children care policies; however, the widowed are less likely to favor government-based old-age and children care services. People who have children do not lean towards the government-based systems for taking care of the livelihood of the elderly. It reflects the traditional concept in Chinese families that children are raised to insure against getting old. Among women, government-based systems for children upbringing and educational expenses are preferred by those with children. Besides, because family has risk-sharing functions, the size of household (the number of people living together) has negative effect on preferences for the government-based care systems for the elderly; however, individuals with more people living together are more likely to favor the government-based care systems for children.

In conclusion, our hypothesis is not fully applicable to the Taiwanese society. It reflects the differences between Eastern and Western cultures and different gender roles between husbands and wives in traditional Chinese families. These differences are important factors in shaping individuals’ attitudes towards government’s responsibilities for taking care of the elderly and children.

並列關鍵字

Preferences for taking care of the elderly and children ； Family structure

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