Amid efforts to encourage families to have more babies, the Ministry of the Interior yesterday announced an expansion to the program that offers married couples NT$3,000 (US$94) per month to subsidize the cost of hiring babysitters for children under the age of two.
The ministry recently introduced several programs to encourage married couples to have more babies. Statistics showed that while slight increases have been seen in birthrates for first-time parents, families are more reluctant to have additional children.
In 2005, 11.4 percent of babies born were the third child in the family. By last year, the proportion had dropped to 1.52 percent.
The ministry offers married couples with a combined yearly salary of less than NT$1.5 million subsidies of NT$3,000 per month per child to send their children aged under two to community babysitting services.
The ministry said that starting next year, the program would expand to include married couples of all income levels with a third child.
The ministry said that it has estimated it will cost NT$56 million per year to fund the program.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Chia-chun (張嘉郡), who recently gave birth, praised the ministry’s plan.
Chang described the policy as “positive,” saying the offer would show people the government’s determination to address the falling birthrate.
The proposal drew mixed reactions from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers, however, who said the government should look into providing more financial subsidies starting from the first child.
“This is an unrealistic empty check,” DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said in the legislature. “The [government] can’t even properly convince mothers to have their first or second baby, much less their third.”
Information compiled from government databases by the DPP caucus shows fewer than one in 12 mothers wants a third child.
Therefore, the proposal would have limited effect and most likely not give the birthrate a noticeable boost, opposition lawmakers said.
Rather, the ministry should study ways of encouraging more families to have at least one or two children, DPP Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) said.
The government should hand out large subsidies starting from the first child, and become even more generous with the second, she said.
“This [falling birthrate] is an issue we can no longer ignore,” she said. “It will have a direct impact on our national strength, labor and our [economy]. It’s an extremely serious matter.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY FLORA WANG
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS