Though most of them face tremendous difficulties in life, divorce mothers in Taiwan feel much happier after becoming single again, according to a new poll released yesterday.
Women's service groups carried out the survey of 192 divorced mothers.
The results show that more than half of the respondents feel that they are living a happier life than when they were married.
And more than 80 percent of the respondents said that they in no way regret deciding to become single.
The findings are in stark contrast with mothers' complaints about other real life problems, such as the financial difficulties and the social stigma attached to single moms.
Lo Chung-yu (羅瓊玉), general-director of the Warm Life Association for Women (晚晴協會), expressed the view that even though the poll showed that more than 50 percent of single mothers feel happier than before, it does not mean that most of them like and choose to become single parents.
"The reactions very much depend upon their past experiences during their marital relationship," Lo said.
"In fact, discrimination against single mothers still prevails in this society and some women don't dare admit they're single moms."
According to the survey, taken between Feb. 26 and March 4, financial difficulties are the most serious problem facing single mothers, particularly among the 30- to 39-year-old age group.
Other issues that worry single mothers include the education of children, adjustment to a new life on their own and social discrimination against single moms, the poll showed.
Notably, most of the respondents think traditional mores on gender are a major reason for the difficulties they face.
Tina Pan (潘維剛), a KMT legislator and also chairwoman of the Modern Women's Foundation (現代婦女基金會), said four out of 100 families in Taiwan are single-parent families, and that there are more single mothers than single fathers.
She said that her foundation and others hope that the results of the survey will call public attention to the difficulties of single mothers, a segment of the population that is steadily growing.
The study also indicated that most single mothers are in financial distress, with nearly 50 percent of them looking for employment.
Funding for education and housing are also in noticeably short supply, and younger single mothers seek assistance from social welfare organizations more often than their older counterparts.
Surprisingly, the poll results also show that single moms get more help from neighbors and friends than they do from their own families and relatives.
‘UNFRIENDLY’: Changing the nationality listing of Taiwanese residents to ‘China’ goes against EU foreign policy as well as democratic and human rights principles, MOFA said Taiwan yesterday called on Denmark to correct its designation of the nationality of Taiwanese residents as “China” or face retaliatory measures. The Danish government in 2024 changed the nationality of Taiwanese citizens on their residence permits from “Taiwan” to “China.” The decision goes against EU foreign policy and contravenes democratic and human rights principles, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said. Denmark should present a solution acceptable to Taiwan as soon as possible and correct the erroneous designation to preserve the longstanding friendship between the two nations, Hsiao said. The issue could damage Denmark’s image and business reputation in Taiwan,
Taiwan climbed to its highest position in global export rankings in more than three decades last year, buoyed by demand linked to artificial intelligence (AI) that lifted shipments of semiconductors and technology products, Ministry of Finance data released yesterday showed. Taiwan accounted for 2.4 percent of global exports last year, or about US$640 billion, ranking 12th worldwide, the data showed. That was up four places from a year earlier and marked the nation’s best ranking since 1994, the ministry said. Taiwan’s share of global exports rose by 0.5 percentage points from the previous year, the largest increase among major economies, reflecting the nation’s
FIRST TRIAL: Ko’s lawyers sought reduced bail and other concessions, as did other defendants, but the bail judge denied their requests, citing the severity of the sentences Former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was yesterday sentenced to 17 years in prison and had his civil rights suspended for six years over corruption, embezzlement and other charges. Taipei prosecutors in December last year asked the Taipei District Court for a combined 28-year, six-month sentence for the four cases against Ko, who founded the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The cases were linked to the Core Pacific City (京華城購物中心) redevelopment project and the mismanagement of political donations. Other defendants convicted on separate charges included Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Angela Ying (應曉薇), who was handed a 15-year, six-month sentence; Core Pacific
J-6 REMODEL: The converted drones are part of Beijing’s expanding mix of airpower weapons, including bombers with stand-off missiles and UAV swarms, the report said China has stationed obsolete supersonic fighters converted to attack drones at six air bases close to the Taiwan Strait, a report published this month by the Arlington, Virginia-based Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies said. Satellite imagery of the airfields from the institute’s “China Airpower Tracker” shows what appear to be lines of stubby, swept-winged aircraft matching the shape of J-6 fighters that first flew with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force in the 1960s. Since their conversion to drones, the aircraft have been identified at five bases in China’s Fujian Province and one in Guangdong Province, the report said. J.
RSS