Mon, Mar 06, 2006 page2

• Plunging birth rate feeds concerns over population

  • By Shelley Shan / STAFF REPORTER
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  At a church luncheon yesterday, six school-aged children sat around the table waiting to be fed.

  Joy and Lily are the only children in their families. They watched with envy how David helped his sister Grace get the ice cream, and how two other sisters -- Zoe and Irene -- played "rock, paper, scissors" while finishing their dessert.

  "I wish my mom could give birth to another baby so I could have somebody to play with," Lily said.

  The scenario of a one-child family, or no-child family, is becoming more and more common in Taiwan, as couples limit themselves to having just one child -- or decide not to have any children at all.

  The trend was shown clearly in statistics released last week by the Bureau of Health Promotion, which showed that the Taiwanese are more reluctant than ever to have big families.

  The report indicated that the birth rate among Taiwanese women dropped to 1.12 per person in 2004. When children born to foreigners are added, the birth rate is still just 1.18 per person.

  The bureau said that Taiwanese women would have to have an average of 2.1 children each in order to replace a whole generation. Should the trend of low birth rates continue, the nation will witness zero or even negative population growth within 30 years, the bureau warned.

  In view of the trend, local counties and cities in Taiwan have taken action, presenting benefit packages to married couples to encourage them to have more children.

  The Taipei City Government, for example, announced over the weekend that if a couple has a second child, they will receive NT$2,500 per month until the child turns two.

  Earlier this year, the Hsinchu City Government also announced that married couples will be reimbursed NT$15,000 for the first child they have in the first year. Once they have their second child, the reimbursement will start from NT$20,000.

  For those who are willing to go further, the payment will go up to NT$25,000. Those who give birth to twins or triplets could even be paid NT$50,000 and NT$100,000, respectively.

  Though such incentives may help the problem, the nation's educational system has already begun to suffer because of the low birth rate trend. The department of education in the Taipei City Government has decided to reduce the number of classes in primary schools by 122 because the number of students enrolled has decreased drastically for many years.

  The average number of students in each classroom has dropped from 50 to 60 two decades ago to 10 to 30 today. More teachers are expected to lose their jobs because of the new arrangement.

  A first-grade teacher who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity said that while children can now have more educational resources allotted to them, they also face more pressures than children in previous generations.

  "All the focus is now on one child in the family," she said, "Children bear higher expectations from their parents than before."

  "If the trend [of low birth rates] persists, it would affect not only primary schools; the repercussions will go all the way to college," she noted.

  She added that universities may be forced to shut down because of the continuously low enrollment.

  The high costs of raising children have caused many couples to think twice about having a second child. Sarah Hao, a working mother, said she and her husband have to spend at least NT$200,000 a year on their two-year-old daughter.

  That amount, she said, does not include fees for the piano or English lessons they will want for their daughter when she gets older.

  "[The government compensation] is not enough," Hao said, adding that parents should be given tax relief after spending so much on children.

  Some suggest the government should establish a more well-rounded childcare policy to help increase the birth rate.

  "[The policy] will help couples living in suburban areas where both parents are working," said 33-year-old mother Deborah Wang.
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