Taoyuan is considering a plan to increase childbirth subsidies by NT$10,000 for every child born to a family after its first, Taoyuan Mayor Simon Chang (張善政) said.
The policy is designed to counter a declining birthrate by encouraging young people to have a second or third child, he said earlier this month in a call for Taoyuan City Council members to support an additional budget.
The Taoyuan Department of Social Welfare was tasked with creating procedural rules to govern the subsidies program and developing a digital processing system, he said, adding that the council should approve the additional budget as soon as possible.
Photo: Lee Jung-ping, Taipei Times
Taoyuan last year had the second-highest birthrate among counties and special municipalities of a similar size, but the figure still represents a drop from the previous year, department Director Chen Pau-min (陳寶民) said.
The city’s birthrate declined over the past few years, he said, adding that 52 percent of last year’s births were comprised of firstborn babies, while second-born and third-born children accounted for 36 percent and 9 percent of births respectively.
The proposed policy is to give families a NT$30,000 subsidy for their first child, NT$40,000 for a second child and NT$50,000 for every child after that, he said.
Couples with twins or triplets would receive a NT$10,000 bonus for each additional child, he said.
The program would represent a significant increase over the current NT$30,000 subsidy for every child, NT$35,000 each for twins and NT$45,000 each for triplets, he said.
At least one of the spouses in a married couple must be a registered resident of Taoyuan and children must be born on or after Dec. 25 last year to be eligible for the subsidies, he said.
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