A survey of young Taiwanese showed that only 36.5 percent of men and 19.6 percent of women believe marriage is important, a trend that academics say is key to the nation’s low birthrate.
Yang Wen-shan (楊文山), an adjunct research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Sociology, yesterday announced the 12th round of results from a longitudinal survey of attitudes among young Taiwanese toward markers of adulthood.
While few of the respondents, who were aged 28 to 32 when surveyed in 2017, found marriage to be important, 95.8 percent believed that being responsible for oneself should take precedence, data showed.
Economic independence came in second among about 85 percent of men and women, the survey showed.
The biggest problem is that young people do not have stable accommodation, Yang said.
Difficulty in buying a house is the biggest factor keeping young couples from having children, he said.
For parents who already have one child, lack of sufficient childcare restricts them from having another, he added.
The low birthrate is closely linked to the marriage rate, not the fertility of married couples, institute associate research fellow Alice Cheng (鄭雁馨) said.
The decline in the fertility rate was mainly driven by a drop in the marriage rate among eligible women in the post-industrial period, especially those aged 20 to 29, she said.
Traditional values are to thank for the growing disinterest in marriage, Cheng said.
Confucian culture exalts continuation of the family line as the basis of filial practice, meaning that marriage is primarily considered in the context of child rearing, she said.
However, people tend to prefer a spouse close to their own age, meaning that as people hold off getting married until later in life for education or work, it becomes harder to have kids and therefore elicits greater opposition from their parents, Cheng said.
The diminishing size of each generation also adds to the problem, she added.
There are fewer young women, yet young and older men both hope to find a young wife, leading to a gender imbalance, Cheng said.
Outdated medical information compounds the problem, she said.
People keep repeating the myth that the prime age to bear children is 28 and 34 is already old, but in reality, many women have healthy children at 35, she said, criticizing obstetricians for failing to accurately convey the risks of late childbirth.
Cheng also urged more balanced discussion of the issue, as a man’s age has also been shown to affect the health of their infant.
If people do not change their traditional views of what a “normal” family looks like and government policy fails to address the right issues, a plummeting birthrate is inevitable, she added.
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau audited six hotels in an effort to prevent price gouging ahead of Korean band BTS’ concert tour in the city scheduled for Nov. 19, 21 and 22 this year. The bureau on Friday said that the audits — conducted in response to allegations of unfair pricing posted on social media — found no wrongdoing. These establishments included the local branches of Chateau de Chine, Hotel Nikko, My Humble House, and Grand Hai Lai, it said, adding that the Consumer Protection Commission would have penalized price gougers had the accusations been substantiated. The bureau said the Tourism Development Act
BACK TO WINTER: A strong continental cold air mass would move south on Tuesday next week, bringing colder temperatures to northern and central Taiwan A tropical depression east of the Philippines could soon be upgraded to be the first tropical storm of this year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the next cold air mass is forecast to arrive on Monday next week. CWA forecaster Cheng Jie-ren (鄭傑仁) said the first tropical depression of this year is over waters east of the Philippines, about 1,867km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), and could strengthen into Tropical Storm Nokaen by early today. The system is moving slowly from northwest to north, and is expected to remain east of the Philippines with little chance of affecting Taiwan,
RSS