The nation’s rapidly declining birthrate has prompted a wave of new proposals from local and central authorities.
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) on Thursday last week announced a program that would allow parents of children aged 12 or younger to work seven-hour days, with the city government subsidizing 80 percent of the resulting lost wages. The initiative was quickly criticized, as the city’s allocated budget is sufficient to support only a fraction of eligible workers, with each employee receiving no more than NT$15,000.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has reportedly floated a proposal that would require the central government to cover National Health Insurance (NHI) premiums for all children aged six or younger. Ministry of Health and Welfare officials warned such a plan could undermine the financial stability of the NHI system and divert resources from disadvantaged families who rely on targeted subsidies.
Additionally, the Ministry of Labor announced an expanded subsidy program intended to encourage businesses to provide more childcare support. The policy would increase subsidies for employer-provided childcare allowances and broaden eligibility for workers who rely on informal childcare arrangements.
These measures all stem from a common assumption — that modest financial incentives can meaningfully reverse Taiwan’s fertility decline. Yet, throwing money at the problem is unlikely to make it disappear.
Policymakers must first recognize the demographic reality that many working-age adults now belong to the so-called “sandwich generation.” Taiwan officially entered the ranks of super-aged societies this year, meaning that a growing share of the population must simultaneously care for children and older relatives.
Nowhere are these pressures more visible than in Taipei. The Ministry of the Interior’s latest statistics show that the capital has the nation’s highest dependency ratio and mortgage burden. In rural areas, the situation is different, but no less troubling — younger people are leaving for urban centers, while older people are increasingly left without family members to support them.
If policymakers truly believe that financial constraints are the primary reason Taiwanese are not having children, then the logical response would be to improve the public’s overall economic outlook rather than offering narrowly targeted benefits contingent upon parenthood.
Someone already working long hours while struggling to cover rent, bills and daily living expenses is unlikely to decide that having a child suddenly makes sense because they might qualify for daycare subsidies or a limited reduction in work hours.
These economic and demographic pressures tell only part of the story. The government’s assumption that finances alone drive the declining birthrate is simplistic and misleading — the issue is as much social and cultural as it is economic.
For many, raising children does not merely constitute a financial commitment, but a complete lifestyle transformation.
A health ministry survey released in September last year found that the proportion of women aged 15 to 24 who do not want children rose from 31.3 percent in 2019 to 45.9 percent last year. While 60.3 percent of respondents cited financial burden as a factor, nearly half said they were unwilling to change their lifestyle to accommodate raising children, and more than one-third expressed concern about parenting or the future children would face.
Taiwanese women today participate in the workforce at far higher rates than previous generations, and many pursue professional development and personal aspirations. Yet despite these shifts, childcare and household responsibilities still fall disproportionately on women. Without meaningful progress toward shared caregiving responsibilities, it is unrealistic to expect that birthrates would rise.
There is also a deeper discussion to be had about the anxieties surrounding their children’s prospects. Concerns about education, economic mobility and the broader direction of society inevitably influence decisions about whether to start a family.
To address the nation’s fertility crisis, officials must recognize that the issue extends far beyond the size of a subsidy or a single employer’s childcare policies. The decision to have children is influenced by multiple factors, including economic stability, personal goals, social expectations, workplace culture, gender equality and confidence in the future.
Tossing conditional subsidies at employers merely treats the issue’s symptoms. If policymakers hope to remedy the nation’s most pressing demographic challenge, they must listen carefully to the younger generation and craft policies that create the conditions for a stable, balanced and hopeful future.
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