The latest data from the Ministry of the Interior showed that single-person and two-people households accounted for almost half of all households nationwide last year, suggesting a growing trend of singles and elderly people living alone, and couples with double income and no children.
As of the fourth quarter of last year, of the more than 7.73 million households nationwide, about 2.28 million, or nearly 30 percent, were single-person households, the data showed.
Combined with the more than 1.52 million two-people households, the figure surpassed 3.8 million, meaning that one in every 2.03 households was single-person or two-people household.
Photo: CNA
The percentages of single-person households in Taipei, New Taipei City and Kaohsiung have all exceeded 30 percent.
New Taipei City had the most single-person households, with 470,300, followed by Kaohsiung’s 296,400 households and Taipei’s and Taichung’s more than 250,000 households each.
Tainan was the only special municipality that had fewer than 200,000 single-person households.
Two-person households in Taipei, New Taipei City and Kaohsiung all accounted for more than half of the total, while they accounted for more than 46 percent in Taoyuan, Taichung and Tainan, the data showed.
That means smaller households have become common in the six special municipalities.
The data also showed that there were about 746,600 households comprising only elderly people as of the first quarter of last year. The number rose to 803,600 in the fourth quarter.
The number of households with elderly people living alone reached 611,700 as of the fourth quarter last year, surpassing 600,000 for the first time since statistics began in 2009, the data showed.
Housing researcher Ho Shih-chang (何世昌) yesterday said that the problem of low birthrates has been aggravated by the trend of staying unmarried and childless, and has become a national security concern.
The government should offer subsidies to encourage people to get married and have children, he said.
That could counteract the trend of people staying unmarried and childless, and reduce the number of single-person households, Ho said.
Newly emerging industrial clusters have replaced traditional municipalities to offer employment and housing opportunities, and resulted in more single-person households, Colliers International Taiwan’s Landlord Representation Services director Andy Huang (黃舒衛) said.
Rising divorce rates, the trend of not getting married and women’s financial independence have impacted demographic trends and family structures, Huang said.
Labor migration due to unstable employment and the Taiwanese custom to spend retirement years at home also led to the trend of elderly people living alone, he said.
Such households result from an aging population and high divorce rate, Ho said.
While providing proper care and mental counseling for elderly people is important at the present stage, the issue of abandoned housing would ensue in 20 to 30 years when the elderly people pass away and leave their housing behind uninherited and unattended, he said.
‘UNFRIENDLY’: Changing the nationality listing of Taiwanese residents to ‘China’ goes against EU foreign policy as well as democratic and human rights principles, MOFA said Taiwan yesterday called on Denmark to correct its designation of the nationality of Taiwanese residents as “China” or face retaliatory measures. The Danish government in 2024 changed the nationality of Taiwanese citizens on their residence permits from “Taiwan” to “China.” The decision goes against EU foreign policy and contravenes democratic and human rights principles, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said. Denmark should present a solution acceptable to Taiwan as soon as possible and correct the erroneous designation to preserve the longstanding friendship between the two nations, Hsiao said. The issue could damage Denmark’s image and business reputation in Taiwan,
KEY INDUSTRY: The vice premier discussed a plan to create a non-red drone supply chain by next year, which has been allocated a budget of more than NT$7.2 billion The government has budgeted NT$44.2 billion (US$1.38 billion) to cultivate Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) industry over the next five years, which would make the nation a major player in the industry’s democratic supply chain in the Asia-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Cho made the remarks during a visit to the facilities of Cub Elecparts Inc (為升電裝). Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong (謝依鳳) also participated in the trip. Cub Elecparts has transitioned from the automotive industry to the defense industry, which is the top priority among the nation’s
SUFFICIENT: The president said Taiwan has enough oil for next month, with reserves covering more than 100 days and natural gas enough for 12 to 14 days A restart plan for the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) and the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春) would be submitted to the Nuclear Safety Commission by the end of the month, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, reversing the government’s policy to abolish nuclear energy. On May 17 last year, Taiwan shut down its last nuclear reactor and became the first non-nuclear nation in East Asia, fulfilling the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government’s pledge of a “nuclear-free homeland.” Even without nuclear power, Taiwan can maintain a stable electricity supply until 2032,
DEROGATORY: WTO host Cameroon’s designation of Taiwan as a ‘province of China’ seriously undermines the nation’s status and rights as a WTO member, MOFA said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned Cameroon for listing Taiwan as “Taiwan, Province of China” in visa documents for an upcoming WTO ministerial conference, a move that led to Taiwan’s withdrawal from the event. The designation “seriously undermined” Taiwan’s status and rights as a WTO member, the ministry said in a statement. It is the first time since 2001 that Taiwan has declined to attend a WTO Ministerial Conference. The conference is scheduled to take place from Thursday to Sunday next week in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon. Taiwan had planned to send a delegation led by Minister Without Portfolio
RSS