Taiwan’s female labor force faces challenges post-motherhood

TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Statistics from the Executive Yuan show that in 2022, 330,000 Taiwanese women left the labor market to care for their families. 

Despite a high labor force participation rate among young women, surpassing that of countries like the United States, Taiwan's female labor force participation begins to decline after age 29, contrasting with men's participation, which continues to rise until 39.

Chuang Ya-ju, an office worker, shared her challenging job search experience post-motherhood with TVBS News. "We had a good chat during the interview, and I felt the job was a good opportunity. Unexpectedly, he asked how old are your children?" Chuang recounted.  "I told him that my children, at that time, were three and a half years old and two. Then his facial expression changed."

The difficulty in re-entering the workforce for women is a contributing factor to Taiwan's low birth rate, closely linked to the workplace environment. Tsai Yu-ling, founder of a human resources integration company, mentioned that the birth rate in better-performing companies compared to poorer-performing ones can differ by tenfold.

Chyn Yu-rung, secretary general of the Awakening Foundation, highlighted the findings of this year's Nobel Prize in Economics winner. The research underscores the challenge of retaining women in stressful workplaces with long hours, a prevalent overtime culture, and inflexible working schedules.

In dual-income families, women often bear the burden of family care due to traditional norms, which discourages them from having children. To stabilize the female labor force participation and improve the birth rate, Taiwan needs advancements in creating a friendly workplace, offering quality public childcare, and promoting co-parenting.
 

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