subsidies for childcare 結果共8筆

Explore Taiwan’s new approach to supporting families: Premier Chen Chien-jen announces plans for more flexible unpaid parental leave, expanded childcare services, and increased subsidies to ease the childcare burden. With a focus on diverse family roles and improved work-life balance, these measures aim to reduce childcare costs and encourage shared parental responsibilities.

Explore how Taiwan is addressing its low fertility rates with new government initiatives, including flexible parental leave, enhanced childcare subsidies, and support for pregnant women.

Vice President Lai Ching-te unveils plans to expand ＂National child care policy for ages 0-6＂ to ease family burdens. Increased subsidies for childcare costs and focus on early childhood education highlighted to address declining birth rates and support families with children.

Kuomintang (KMT) presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih highlights his achievements in public childcare in New Taipei City, having established 121 facilities, surpassing other major cities in Taiwan combined. Hou criticizes his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) opponent, Lai Ching-te, for lacking concrete efforts in providing care for children up to the age of 22. Hou also questions Lai’s commitment to waiving high-school fees and granting university subsidies, suggesting irresponsibility towards young people. Additionally, Hou points out Lai’s failure to plan social housing during his tenure as mayor of Tainan, while New Taipei City completed 11,000 units under his leadership.

Taiwan’s Social Protection Expenditure (SPE) for 2022 has reached a new high of NT$2.5342 trillion, according to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS). This represents a 4.9% growth rate and an increase of NT$118.1 billion compared to the previous year. The DGBAS attributes the significant growth to factors such as increased costs related to COVID-19 vaccine procurement and vaccination efforts, higher National Health Insurance payments, and increased funding for childcare allowances and educational subsidies. Social security spending in Taiwan aims to mitigate risks or burdens associated with aging, disabilities, survivors, sickness and healthcare, childbirth, family and children, unemployment, occupational injuries, and housing, following the standards of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

Chiayi City Councilor Cheng Kuang-hung has raised concerns about the declining birthrate in Chiayi and the city’s residents being the least willing to marry compared to other Taiwanese cities. A survey conducted in 2018 with over 8,000 Taiwanese netizens revealed that the number of newborns in Chiayi has been consistently decreasing over the past decade. In 2014, there were 2,100 newborns, but by September 2023, the figure had dropped to 845. Unmarried individuals aged 25-44 accounted for more than half of the population in Chiayi, with 52.52% being unmarried. Men in this age group had a higher unmarried rate of 58.86% compared to women at 46.37%. Cheng suggested that government policies and budget allocations should be redirected towards encouraging early marriage and childbirth instead of focusing solely on post-marriage childbirth subsidies and childcare. Academia Sinica also recommended promoting marriage and procreation at younger ages to address the declining birth rates. The Executive Yuan established a dedicated office in 2018 to combat the declining birthrate, investing over NT＄40 billion in recent years.

Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) presidential candidate Ko Wen-je has proposed several policies to address Taiwan’s low birth rate. These policies include extending maternity leave, offering a ＂pregnancy subsidy＂ of NT$50,000 to expectant mothers, and providing an additional subsidy of NT$100,000 to families after the child is born. Ko also plans to establish a ＂Population Development Committee＂ within the Executive Yuan to coordinate efforts between various governmental departments and address the issue of low birth rates. He advocates for increasing public childcare facilities and raising salaries for public preschool teachers and personnel to improve the employment environment for childcare workers. The National Development Council predicts that Taiwan’s population could be halved by 2070 due to low birth rates and an aging population, which would further burden society and younger generations. Ko sees the low birth rate as a security issue for Taiwan, causing labor shortages and challenges in school recruitment.

Taiwan’s MOHW announces ＂Holistic Physicians for Young Children＂ project, but pediatricians express concerns over workload and compensation. Learn more about the childcare initiative.