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Home equity represents a substantial share of retirement wealth for many older persons, particularly in Asia where national housing policies have encouraged home-ownership. This paper explored the potential for reverse mortgages to help 'asset-rich and cash-poor' older Singaporeans unlock their home equity while ageing in place. The empirical analysis was based on a nationally representative survey of home-owners age 50+ in the 2018 Singapore Life Panel (N = 6,258). Our analyses showed that the average older home-owner holds some 60 per cent of total net wealth in housing equity, suggestive of high demand potential for reverse mortgage products. Nevertheless, actual interest in such products was much below potential demand. Only one in four older home-owners indicated interest in commercial reverse mortgages if these were to become available; a larger majority had never heard of the financial product. Interest in reverse mortgages was positively associated with product awareness and self-rated product understanding. This implies that a critical step towards building consumer interest would be to enhance awareness of such products and simplify related contract terms. Having a mortgage, fewer children, financial literacy and preparedness for retirement were also positively associated with interest level. These results have implications for targeted interventions to enhance consumer awareness and spur interest in reverse mortgages, especially in ageing societies where older people have built up substantial equity through the housing market over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ageing of populations is an unprecedented worldwide phenomenon that has created anxiety about labour and skill shortages in many developed countries. One way to address these concerns is to extend the working lives of seniors through appropriate retirement, retention and recruitment policies. This paper utilises official policy documentation and employment data to compare the policies, practices and predicaments of senior employment in Hong Kong and Singapore, two of developed Asia's most ageing economies. It finds that while labour force participation rates among Hong Kong seniors have declined since the early 1990s, older workers in Singapore remain largely confined to the secondary labour market. This paper examines why these trends are occurring and whether longer working lives will lead to greater opportunities for ‘active ageing’ in employment or, conversely, force older workers into a reserve army of labour to maintain their incomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies of East Asian welfare regimes focus on similarities between social security schemes. In contrast, this paper explores cross-national variations in public–private pension mixes in six welfare states: China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. Our research echoes the pension policy analysis of international organisations but takes a step forward with emphasis on the historical and institutional characteristics of the respective pension systems. The analysis identifies three institutional patterns. First, the statist pension system (Taiwan and China) primarily relies on public pensions to provide old-age security, with private pensions playing a rather minor role. Second, in the dualist pension system (Japan and Korea) both public and private pensions work in parallel to ensure retirement income, though a clear security gap exists between workers in the formal and informal economies. Finally, the individualist pension system (Hong Kong and Singapore) is characterised by genuine fully funded individual accounts, emphasising citizens' own responsibilities for ensuring old-age security. These three types of pension systems demonstrate distinct institutional characteristics and policy outcomes, illustrated by the juxtaposition of their institutional structures as well as by the comparison of key indicators collected from government reports and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development statistics. The paper concludes with a theoretical reflection of East Asian pension policies and a diagnosis of the distinct challenges confronted by each of the various pension patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine predictors and consequences of living arrangements among community-dwelling older Singaporeans. We take a holistic approach and consider a range of social and economic as well as emotional and physical wellbeing indicators. Two waves (2009, 2011) of the Panel on Health and Ageing of Singaporean Elderly (PHASE) are analysed to (a) provide an overview of living arrangements in 2009 and assess the extent to which living arrangements change by 2011; (b) examine the predictors of living arrangements in 2009; and (c) examine the consequences of living arrangements over a two-year period. The majority (88%) of older Singaporeans co-reside with either their spouse and/or children. A small yet growing proportion live with others (5%) or live alone (6%). Very little change in living arrangements is observed over the two years. Our results show that women, the oldest-old and older adults with fewer children are more likely to live alone. Older adults who live alone are not particularly disadvantaged compared to those who live with their spouse and children or spouse only in their social and economic wellbeing. It is, in fact, older adults who live with their children that are disadvantaged in many aspects of social, economic and mental wellbeing. Measures to engage older adults living with their families (along with those living alone and with others) in broader social activities are imperative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active Ageing is conceptualised to measure the extent to which older people remain actively engaged with life. However, there is no evidence that the concept of Active Ageing is actually associated with the activity levels of older persons. Influences of age, ethnicity and spirituality on Active Ageing are also unexplored. Using the Active Ageing Index (AAI), this study examines whether the level of Active Ageing predicted the actual activity level of 120 Singaporeans of Chinese, Malay and Indians ethnicities, aged 55–64 years old or 65 years and above. Spirituality, measured by the Spirituality Index of Well-Being, was added to the AAI, to see if the predictive power of AAI improved. Hierarchical multiple regression showed that the AAI alone (controlling for age) did not significantly predict the activity level of older persons. The predictive power of the AAI improved significantly with spirituality included. Two-way between-groups Analysis of Variance revealed main effects of age and ethnicity, with higher AAI in those aged 55–64 and in Indian-Singaporeans. These findings suggest that the theoretical construct of Active Ageing needs further examination to identify the domains that distinguish it from chronological age, and support broadening the construct by including spirituality in Active Ageing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Singapore has an age-based mandatory retirement policy for taxi drivers. In 2006, the upper age limit of mandatory retirement was raised from 70 to 73 years for healthy, older taxi drivers. Retirement from taxi driving in Singapore often results in simultaneous retirement from work and forced driving cessation due to limited private vehicle ownership. While both retirement from work and driving cessation have been found to have negative implications for health and wellbeing in Western countries, little is known about the effects of mandatory retirement and driving cessation for healthy professional drivers in an Asian context. This study aimed to explore the mandatory retirement experience of older Singaporean taxi drivers, aged 70–73 years. In-depth interviews were conducted within a descriptive phenomenological approach with 23 older Singaporean taxi drivers who were retired or retiring drivers. Findings showed the experience to be dominated by retirement from work issues rather than by driving cessation. Three themes described the experiences: ‘stories of taxi driving’, ‘feeling lost in retirement’ and ‘contradictions of growing old in Singapore’. Taxi driving was a valued role. Despite an expected retirement, most participants were not prepared for the retirement transition. They struggled with emotional adjustment, financial vulnerability, identity, reduction in life-space and meaningful activity participation. Participants felt under-valued despite having personal achievements and support from family and ‘successful ageing’ policies. Work remained a preferred activity despite limited re-employment opportunities. The unique context of expected but forced retirement, financial need in a non-welfare system, high cultural value on work, and limited options for productive or meaningful activities and roles, predisposed this sub-group of older Singaporean men to be vulnerable retirees in terms of identity and wellbeing issues. Support for a stressful late-life transition is indicated for continued health and wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]