Men play the dominant role when it comes to making decisions about planned parenthood, social and medical experts said.
"In recent years, birthrate research conducted in the US has been focusing on men instead of women, because studies show that men's willingness to reproduce is the key to parenthood," said Joyce Feng (馮燕), vice president of the Child Welfare League Foundation.
In a seminar held by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) and a Chinese-language parenting magazine yesterday, experts discussed the factors behind the drastic birthrate decline in Taiwan.
According to the MOI, the current birth rate is 1.24 per woman.
In a survey conducted by the magazine, 18.9 percent of female respondents said they did not wish to have children of their own, while 34.6 percent of male respondents said the same.
Wu Wen-hao (吳文豪), chairman of Child Health Promotion Society (中華民國兒童保健協會), stated that high standards of education, people marrying at a late age, increased female participation in labor market and the high costs associated with parenting contribute to the low birthrate.
"People who are going through academic pursuits are not inclined to have children. Therefore, the increased level of education delays the process of childbirth," Wu said.
Hsieh Ai-ling (謝愛齡), director of the ministry's Population Administration Department, pointed out that men who do house chores react more positively to parenthood.
"According to a study conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, men who are more interested in doing house chores are more likely to have children," Hsieh said.
Soong Yung-kuei (宋永魁), deputy superintendent of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, said the variety of available contraception measures is one of the factors resulting in low birthrates.
"Generally, infertility is not a very serious issue in Taiwan, and the costs associated with artificial insemination are reasonable according to international rates. However, the prevalence of birth control measures makes the decision not to have children easy," Soong said.
According to Soong, due to the increased education levels among Taiwanese women, the favorable ages to have children are pushed back to between 30 and 34.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
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