東亞視野的台灣福利國家：歷史發展與前瞻

Taiwanese Welfare State in East Asian Perspective: Historical Development and Prospect

1990 年代起，東亞福利國家成為國際社會政策學界的焦點，認為此區域為發展型福利國家的類型。本文指出民主化後的台灣福利國家出現福利擴張現象，同時逐步在法律及施政上肯認並落實國民社會權。但在2000年前後，面對人口結構改變、全球化經濟挑戰，再加上全球性系統風險接踵發生。因應內外多重力量的壓力，台灣福利國家出現新發展方向―一方面擴展人力資本培育的新領域，強化照顧服務的提供，進而強化國家的管治者角色，藉由制度規範讓市場機制與私人福利共同提供給付或服務。另一方面，開始在一些領域實施社會現金移轉，以便填補福利制度中的保障間隙；藉此肩托起新興風險下的弱勢群體生計，使其免於貧窮的威脅。時至今日，這些制度變遷已然讓台灣福利國家脫離傳統發展型福利典範，整體福利財政規模已經十分可觀，未來將繼續成長，但也帶出福利資源分配的議題。如何在過去數十年的福利成就上，面迎內外挑戰並適切因應，便成為台灣福利國家促進未來社會永續的關鍵，這些議題也將是東亞社會政策比較研究的未來方向。

Since the 1990s, East Asian welfare states have become the focus of international social policy scholarship, viewing them as the prototype of developmental welfare. This article points out the expansionary momentum of the Taiwanese welfare state after democratization, which includes legal and policy levels. However, in response to the new challenges arising around the 2000s, ranging from population aging, economic globalization, to global systemic crises, the Taiwanese welfare state is developing new policy directions: on the one hand, expanding the main fields of capital accumulation by strengthening care provision, demonstrating the characteristics of the regulatory state that sets up institutional frameworks for the markets and private welfare to joint welfare production; on the other hand, introducing social cash transfer to fill the protection gap of the current social systems in an attempt to shield vulnerable people from the poverty trap embedded in the new social risks. These institutional changes have led the Taiwanese welfare state to bid farewell to the conventional developmental welfare paradigm. To date, the fiscal size of the Taiwanese welfare state has grown considerably and will likely continue to expand, bringing about the contentious issue of resource redistribution. Based on the welfare achievements of the past decades, how to meet the new challenges with adequate social policies is the key for the Taiwanese welfare state to foster future social sustainability.