The new Taipei City Government would encourage childbirth through bonuses and subsidies, with the goal to push the population in the capital back above 2.5 million, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday.
Taipei’s population has declined by about 200,000 people in the past few years, which is a shocking number, Chiang told reporters ahead of a municipal administration meeting.
Officials would discuss how to encourage city residents to have children, such as by offering baby bonuses and subsidies, and also by improving social housing policies, Chiang said.
Photo: Tien Su-hua, Taipei Times
The city had to eliminate one deputy mayor after the population dropped below 2.5 million last year, Chiang said, adding that there are about 2.47 million residents today.
Hopefully, the planned policies in combination with overseas Taiwanese returning during the Lunar New Year holiday and restarting their household registration, the population would climb above 2.5 million soon, he said.
The Taipei Department of Civil Affairs said that Taipei’s population is expected to exceed 2.5 million by the end of next month or early March.
While on campaigning ahead of the mayoral election in November, Chiang, in response to population decline in Taipei and a low birthrate nationally, proposed increasing the city administration’s bonus for the birth of a first child to NT$40,000 (US$1,303) from NT$20,000 to encourage parenthood.
Department Commissioner Chen Yung-te (陳永德) yesterday said that the plan to adjust the bonus policy — with plans to provide NT$40,000 for a first child, NT$45,000 for a second child and NT$50,000 for a third or subsequent child — is likely to be implemented after April 4.
However, there are two plans, with one including all babies born after Dec. 25, when Chiang took office, and the other to only include babies born after the policy is implemented, Chen said.
The first plan would cost about NT$530 million more than the second, he said.
A bonus policy would be implemented, but Chiang has not decided on which plan would be adopted, he said.
Aftershocks from a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck off Yilan County at 3:45pm yesterday could reach a magnitude of 5 to 5.5, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Seismological Center technical officer Chiu Chun-ta (邱俊達) told a news conference that the epicenter of the temblor was more than 100km from Taiwan. Although predicted to measure between magnitude 5 and 5.5, the aftershocks would reach an intensity of 1 on Taiwan’s 7-tier scale, which gauges the actual effect of an earthquake, he said. The earthquake lasted longer in Taipei because the city is in a basin, he said. The quake’s epicenter was about 128.9km east-southeast
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