The Year of the Tiger is approaching fast, and many Taiwanese think it is not a good time to get married or have children. In past tiger years, the number of births dropped by about 20,000.
To reduce the tiger slump’s effect on Taiwan’s population, which is already in decline, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has announced that from August, the monthly childcare allowance for children under the age of two is to be increased to NT$5,000 and the nursery allowance is to be raised to NT$8,500 per month.
However, increasing allowances and subsidies is unlikely to persuade people to have more babies. The experience of other countries shows that even huge cash incentives have little effect on the fertility rate.
Today’s lifestyles and mindsets are different from the past, and young people tend to put their careers first: Getting married and starting a family are not their top priority.
Furthermore, Taiwanese women are highly educated and financially independent.
However, the key reasons for people not getting married and having children are a lack of comprehensive childcare policies and maternity-friendly workplaces, along with immature housing policies.
The government should not just treat the symptoms without tackling the cause. Increasing subsidies is one thing, but the government must also pay attention to improving the overall childcare environment.
It should pay childminders better salaries to make the job more attractive. It should help employers establish maternity-friendly workplaces and formulate preferential housing policies for young people.
The issue of falling birthrates is common to all developed countries, and the most serious declines in fertility are seen in countries with a relatively unbalanced division of labor between the genders. Countries that have maintained a relatively level birthrate are those that promote paternity leave so that men can accompany their partner when giving birth and contribute to taking care of the infant.
Many governments have concluded that the way to raise people’s willingness to have children is to enable young couples to balance their careers and families, such as by allowing parents with children to have flexible work hours, paid parental leave, paternity leave and so on. This is the only way to effectively prevent the birthrate from declining.
If the government really wants to solve Taiwan’s low birthrate, it must understand that the traditional way of using cash incentives to encourage people to have children will not work. It is simply not the right prescription.
The government must consider the overall environment and try to improve every aspect of it, including housing policy and workplace environments.
It must also improve the parental leave system and adjust work shift systems so that parents can take care of their children at home.
This would make it easier for those in dual-income households to tend to their careers and families at the same time. It would also be a more practical way of preventing the birthrate from falling and might even help raise it.
Dino Wei is an information engineer.
Translated by Julian Clegg
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.
As Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu’s party won by a landslide in Sunday’s parliamentary election, it is a good time to take another look at recent developments in the Maldivian foreign policy. While Muizzu has been promoting his “Maldives First” policy, the agenda seems to have lost sight of a number of factors. Contemporary Maldivian policy serves as a stark illustration of how a blend of missteps in public posturing, populist agendas and inattentive leadership can lead to diplomatic setbacks and damage a country’s long-term foreign policy priorities. Over the past few months, Maldivian foreign policy has entangled itself in playing
A group of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers led by the party’s legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (?) are to visit Beijing for four days this week, but some have questioned the timing and purpose of the visit, which demonstrates the KMT caucus’ increasing arrogance. Fu on Wednesday last week confirmed that following an invitation by Beijing, he would lead a group of lawmakers to China from Thursday to Sunday to discuss tourism and agricultural exports, but he refused to say whether they would meet with Chinese officials. That the visit is taking place during the legislative session and in the aftermath