Most childless Taiwanese have no plans to become parents even though the vast majority believe a dwindling birthrate is a serious issue for Taiwan, a survey showed yesterday.
Altogether, 64 percent of working Taiwanese presently without children do not intend to have any in the future, according to 104 Job Bank, Taiwan’s largest online human resources service.
Of these, 61 percent said they had given up hope of becoming parents because they believed they could not afford to support a family, 104 Job Bank said.
Meanwhile, 38 percent said that, with their responsibilities at work, they would not have the energy to take proper care of their children, according to the survey, which allowed respondents to give more than one reason.
Despite the reluctance to raise children, 87 percent thought that the declining birthrate in Taiwan was a serious problem, the survey showed.
Sixty-four percent were concerned the result would be a society unable to look after its elderly, while 37 percent were worried about the consequences of having to import labor from abroad.
The comapny carried out the survey among 2,990 respondents from Oct. 15 through Oct. 19. The survey had a margin of error of 1.8 percentage points and a confidence level of 95 percent.
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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s remarks that the organization’s cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners must be deepened to deter potential threats from China and Russia. Rutte on Wednesday in Berlin met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of Germany’s accession to NATO. He told a post-meeting news conference that China is rapidly building up its armed forces, and the number of vessels in its navy outnumbers those of the US Navy. “They will have another 100 ships sailing by 2030. They now have 1,000 nuclear warheads,” Rutte said, adding that such
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The cosponsors of a new US sanctions package targeting Russia on Thursday briefed European allies and Ukraine on the legislation and said the legislation would also have a deterrent effect on China and curb its ambitions regarding Taiwan. The bill backed by US senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal calls for a 500 percent tariff on goods imported from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports — targeting nations such as China and India, which account for about 70 percent of Russia’s energy trade, the bankroll of much of its war effort. Graham and Blumenthal told The Associated Press
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