Balancing career and family life is a serious concern for working fathers, a survey released on Monday by the online job bank yes123 showed.
The survey of 1,176 fathers found that 40 percent felt alienated from their children, due in large part to the demands of their jobs.
The respondents worked an average of 10 hours a day, leaving them only 69.3 minutes to spend with their children on weekdays, the poll found.
About three-quarters, or 74.7 percent, of respondents said they worked more than nine hours per day, and 21.3 percent said they worked more than 12 hours per day, it found.
The poll showed that 92.3 percent of respondents thought about changing jobs for their children, while 73.7 percent said their performance at work was at least once affected by family factors.
A majority of the respondents said they are under pressure from family and work, with 94 percent reporting feeling a considerable amount of stress. Of those, about 70 percent described the stress as bearable, while the remaining 30 percent said it was too much.
Yes123 spokesman Yang Tsung-bin (楊宗斌) said that the government and companies should strive to create a friendlier environment for working fathers and provide them job training.
Those measures, in addition to financial assistance and other benefits, could help working fathers feel less stressed and anxious, which might make couples more willing to have children and help reverse the nation’s falling birthrate, Yang said.
The survey was conducted from July 3 to July 18 and has a margin of error of 2.86 percentage points.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury