An exploration of life insurance among the elderly in Taiwan.

The burgeoning of the life insurance industry in Taiwan cannot be attributed solely to a rise in incomes, but also to increasing urbanization and industrialization, aggressive marketing strategies introduced by U.S. life insurance companies, and important changes in values that make it increasingly acceptable to own life insurance. The growing use of life insurance can be considered part of a transition from informal, familial care of the elderly to formal market mechanisms to protect the financial security of loved ones, including a widowed spouse, and as one component of the pattern of intergenerational relations. We use data from the 1991-92 Telephone Followup to the 1989 Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly in Taiwan to explore the extent to which familial resources and socioeconomic/demographic characteristics influence the propensity of elderly persons to own life insurance. We also consider motivations for and against the ownership of insurance, and if insurance is currently held, the relationship of the beneficiary to the respondent. We conclude with suggestions for additional data that can help resolve a number of issues raised in this exploratory study.