Abstract
Taiwan is now on the verge of becoming a super-aging society with a wave of retirement among Baby Boomers. This study investigates decision-making regarding retirement and income differences among the middle-aged and elderly populations. Following two lines of literature, social stratifi cation of the labor market and welfare stratifi cation of the state, we analyze the infl uences of personal and family conditions, as well as those of the institutional changes in the Taiwanese welfare state on decision-making regarding the timing of retirement and which retirement system to choose. In addition, we also examine the differences in elders' personal income resulting from the various retirement decisions. Applying the updated designed questionnaire of Taiwan Social Change Survey (TSCS) 2020, for the fi rst time we can distinguish between the two retirement systems, the monthly payment pension mostly for the public service sector and middle classes, and the lump-sum pension payment mostly for private-sector employees. The statistical results show that the institutional divergence shaped people's decisions regarding the two kinds of systems, and which system was chosen significantly determined the difference in elders' personal income. The monthly payment pension robustly increased the pension payment and benefi ted the public sector workers, but the lump-sum pension payment decreased the personal income of participants and forced these elders to fi nd another job after they retired. Additionally, re-entering the labor market increased personal income after retirement, regardless of the pension system the retiree selected. Therefore, the social stratifi cation of the labor market infl uenced the diff erence in income if some members of the elder population delayed retirement or returned to work.