This paper attempts to answer the question what role the private service delivery system has been playing in the provision of welfare services in Taiwan. Since the early 1990s, the Taiwan welfare delivery system has been affected by the concept of welfare pluralism. The emergence of private sector in welfare provisions has been so significant thus the private welfare provisions have been accounting for a substantial proportion. Though much of the financial sources has been subvented from both central government and local authorities. It is inevitable that the private welfare system will continue to be developed as an important partnership with public welfare system. This paper therefore will try to touch on some issues related to this division of welfare provision between public and private delivery system. It is hoped to throw some light on the future development of private welfare provision in Asian region.

I Introduction

Prior to the late 1980s, the provision of social welfare in Taiwan was largely rested upon the functionary of state sectors. The Department of Social Affair, Ministry of Interior was mainly responsible for the planning and implementation of a great variety of welfare progammes for the poor, the elderly, the handicapped, the children, and the women. Although local governments ( Taiwan Provincial Government, cities and counties ) were usually directly involved in the delivery of welfare services through their administrative staff, however, a substantial proportion of their finance had to be subsidized by central government. In other words, from the 1950s through the 1980s, the provision of welfare scheme was largely determined by central government policy and its financial support.

Nevertheless, private service delivery sector did play centain roles, in particular in the area of child welfare. The Christian Children Fund (then renamed as Chinese Children Fund, CCF) and the World Vision are the two often-mentioned private and charitable organizations.

The CCF and World Vision were pioneering in introducing professional social worker system into Taiwan in the early 1960s. Professional social worker system was far more advanced in private services delivery system during that time, and was at least twenty years ahead of public sector. Taiwan Provincial Government launched its experimental project on professional social worker system in 1967, and but not put into practice until the mid-1980s.

In short, during the period of rapid economic development in Taiwan from the 1960s and the mid-1980s, the social delivery system was mainly established in residual form either by central and local governments, and was financially largely supported by central government. Private services delivery system was playing a supplementary role, and substantially financed by central as well as local governments.

At the beginning of the 1980s,Taiwn society started transformation in its social structure as a result of economic success . With growing urbanisation, population emigrated from rural areas into cities and suburban areas , which created an increasing need for housing and public services. In the meantime, industrial transformation from labour intensive into high-tech and capital intensive industries further speeded up the process of urbanization . Individual income from employment, had gradually widened the disparity between labour workers and high-tech employees. And because of urbanization, the family structure gradually changed from traditional extended form into nuclear one. The social consequences of this structure change are that the elderly people are left behind in the villages, and traditional mutual support function of the family is diminished.

All such growing needs as care for the elderly, children, the low income, the handicapped, the unemployed and others have become a great concern not only for the government, but also for the general public. Social and income insecurity for socially and economically deprived persons has become a policy issue, as the family networks gradually failed to fulfill its traditional caring functions.

The year of 1980 was regarded as a significant landmark in Taiwan social welfare development . Three laws, i.e. the law for the elderly, the social assistance law revised, and the law for the handicapped were enacted and implemented at the same year . The labour standand act was promulgated in 1984,which was designed to provide a minimum labour standard for workers. The Council of Labour Affairs ( Ministry of Labour) was established in 1987 immediately after the lift of martial law in Taiwan.

During the 1980s, in particular, toward the end of this decade, a growing number of social movements triggered off in parallel with political democratization and the formation of an opposition party, the Democratic Progress Party (DPP). In line with these social movements, the welfare for the handicapped movement was advocated by various private welfare organization for the handicapped. They took the forms of campaigning to the public and lobbying to the legislators. As a result, the welfare law for the handicapped was revised, and more resources were allocated to the establishment of welfare institutions for the handicapped. Furthermore, private welfare institutions were integrated as a major partnership of welfare system.

In short, the 1980s can be seen as a decade of welfare transformation in Taiwan. On the one hand, the state was forced to draw up welfare laws for the elderly, the handicapped, and the poor with an aim to establish a social security system to meet welfare needs derived from economic transformation and urbanization. This welfare transformation was on the other designed to meet growing needs derived from social and political differentiation, especially these pressures for welfare services from opposition party.

Since the early 1990s,welfare ideology between two major parties i.e. the KMT and the DPP, has become clear and divergent .The KMT, the ruling party of that time, maintained a central to right view in its welfare policy. The state should not intervene into the function of the family, unless the family is dysfunction to care its members.

Thus, most of the welfare schemes are based on the means tested principle. For instance, financial assistance to the elderly is provided to those old people whose income is below the subsistence level of living. Social services are provided to those who are incapable of looking after themselves

In contrast with the KMT welfare ideology, the DPP while in opposition until the year of 2000 advocated the vale of universal scheme. Thus, on the 1993 county mayors election, the DPP proposed a policy of universal old-age allowance of 3,000NTs (85 US) for every old people aged 65 and over. This policy opened up a heated debate on the issue of income security for the elderly since then. Until now, this issues has not yet resolved even after the DPP became the ruling party in May 2000.

Undoubtedly, the welfare ideology of political parties is one of the dominating factors in formulating social services system. The influence of the welfare concepts from welfare advanced states has also been an important factor in social service development in Taiwan. The concept of welfare pluralism by Norman John in his book ” Welfare States in Transition” was widely discussed and was developed into one of the factors in influencing welfare policy formation. The central government started its first experimented projects of contracted out services delivery to private welfare agencies. The central government subsidized private welfare agencies in their services for the elderly, the handicapped, the children, etc.

In the end, welfare privatisation becomes the major trend in welfare service system in the 1990s. By means of welfare privatisation, it takes the following forms:

1. Welfare services with public amenities but managed by private non-profit welfare agencies.

2. Welfare services with contracted out project to private non-profit welfare agencies.

3. Welfare services by subsidizing private welfare agency its staff and services .

Private social services agencies have been more involved in the delivery of social services as compared their past. The scope of welfare privatisation has thus been enlarged as private welfare agencies are more established to perform the role of services delivery. One factor has contributed toward this competence of private welfare agency. The professional social worker licence system was established in 1997 with the enactment of Professional Social Worker Law. Those private welfare agencies in order to be contracted out by central or local governments in services delivery have to recruit professional social workers with qualified licence.This general trend directly upgrades the services quality of private welfare agencies. Indirectly, welfare privatisation has facilitated the growth of private welfare institution. Taking the example of caring and nursing homes for the elderly, the following table indicates that welfare services for the elderly in form of institution care have been largely provided through private agencies.

Table 1: long-term caring institutions for the elderly (2001)

It is clear form the above table that most private welfare agencies for the elderly are in small scale as compared to public one. In caring home for the elderly which do not need medical professionals, private services system shares half of those elderly people in care. But in nursing home, private institutions have cared more than 90% of those in care.

The second trend in welfare provision as response to the concept of welfare pluralism is welfare services communitisation. The concept of welfare communitisation has twofold. The first one is services delivered in community by professionals. The second concept is services delivered by people in community. In response to this trend of social services provided by and in the community, the Department of Social Welfare launched an experimental project on a welfare communitisation in 1998.

The outcome of this services delivery project has not been so successful as originally anticipated. However, services in community and by community has well responded to the concept of welfare pluralism.

The third trend in the delivery of welfare services in Taiwan is the welfare services decentralization. This development is partly as a reflection to change in ruling party in local authorities. Since 1993 local mayors election, city and county mayors have been largely dominated by the DPP members. These mayors of local counties and cities have supported to the development of welfare decentralization. Welfare services delivery can be designed by each local authority to meet local needs on one hand, and be able to enlarge the support of the local population at grass level on the other. It can be argued that the development of welfare decentralization is seen more as a need for the growing power of the political parties than as a reflection of welfare pluralism.

The services delivery system in 1990s in Taiwan in forms of welfare privatization, welfare communitisation and welfare decentralization can thus be seen partly as a reflection of the concept of welfare pluralism. Welfare services provided through private agencies and institutions have substantially increased in last decade, and in some services areas, accounted for more than half of the services. This private services delivery system has become so significant that the management of non-profit or non-government welfare organizations has become one of core subjects in social welfare and social work studies in Taiwan universities.

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