Eighty percent of fathers in Taiwan said their income was insufficient to cover family expenses, a Child Welfare League Foundation survey released yesterday showed. Of those surveyed, 43.3 percent reported signs of moderate to severe depression, 14.4 percent of whom fell into the “severe” or “extremely severe” categories.
Ten percent of fathers reported feelings of worthlessness or that life lacked meaning, and 47 percent said they believed expressing such emotions would make them appear weak, the survey found.
The online survey collected responses from 547 fathers with children aged 18 or younger, with 46.4 percent in their 30s and 43.5 percent in their 40s. About 49.5 percent of respondents had one child, 42.4 percent had two and 8 percent had three or more.
Photo courtesy of Child Welfare League Foundation
A total of 62.9 percent said they were their household’s primary earner, while 32.4 percent shared that role with their spouse.
Finances — such as living expenses, insufficient income or debt — were the leading source of stress, with nearly 80 percent of respondents saying they struggled to cover essential family expenses since becoming parents.
The next primary causes of stress were parenting, work, family responsibilities and relationships.
The survey also found that 59.6 percent of respondents said their finances were stretched, 16.6 percent reported that their salaries were often insufficient and 2.7 percent said that their income was not at all sufficient.
Among those who expressed higher levels of depression, 21.9 percent felt that their salaries were insufficient and 5.9 percent reported that they did not make enough money at all.
About 23 percent cited US tariffs as affecting their work and income, while 60 percent reported no impact, but said they were still concerned, and 16 percent said they were not impacted at all.
The foundation called on the government to provide and promote more mental health resources for men, as 70 percent of survey respondents did not know about the government’s mental health support program launched last year.
Workplaces should also be more supportive of parenting and allow parents to have a better work-life balance, it said.
Parents might face pressure to not take parental leave, as it could affect their career advancement and performance reviews, it added.
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