Taiwanese young people’s suicide rate has gone from 4.5 per 100,000 people in 2021 to 7 per 100,000 people in 2023, a trend that experts attribute to increased divorce rates, Internet habits and lack of sleep.
“The National Taiwan University (NTU) Children and Family Research Center Sponsored by CTBC Charity Foundation’s Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Family Database: Taiwanese Family and Youth Rights Index 2024 Comparison Report” released yesterday called on the government to focus more on the rights of young people and family support policies.
Familial structural changes are apparent based on the report, NTU Department of Sociology associate professor Janet Kuo (郭貞蘭) said.
Photo: CNA
The report showed that Taiwanese nuclear families decreased from 57.24 percent in 2011 to 52.78 percent in 2023, while single-person families increased from 10.12 percent to 15.4 percent in the same timeframe, she said.
Single-parent families increased from 9.31 percent in 2011 to 10.57 percent in 2023, according to the report.
Compared with nations within the OECD, Taiwan has a higher percentage of nuclear families, while the rate of families without children and single-person households is lower, Kuo said.
While such developments show a distinct deviation from traditional family composition, Taiwan’s statistics do not stand out when compared with other countries, showing that this is an international trend and reflecting a conscious choice to embrace certain ideas and values, Academia Sinica Institute of Sociology research fellow Wu Chi-yin (吳齊殷) said.
The US and the EU are cognizant of such shifts and have begun implementing policies that are friendlier toward those without children, he said.
Research showed that divorce rates, Internet usage and sleep disorders all contribute to the increased rates that young people think of, or attempt, suicide, NTU Institute of Health Behaviors and Community Services professor Chang Shu-sen (張書森) said.
More young people are espousing the belief that committing suicide is a personal right, Chang said.
Chang said that counseling to help adolescents sort through psychological issues, providing care for disadvantaged children and promoting information that would reduce negative stereotypes of single-parent families are preventive measures.
Schools should also work on adding more safety nets and similar facilities to prevent suicide attempts involving jumping off buildings, and work on providing children and adolescents with a “clean and safe” online experience.
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