TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Advocacy groups urged the government on Thursday (Nov. 14) to expand public childcare services and introduce paid flexible parental leave to retain female labor force participation. Taiwan has had an ultra-low fertility rate for 21 years. Against this background, the Childcare Policy Alliance (托育及就業政策催生聯盟) held a press conference to emphasize the need to address policies hindering women's employment and childbirth.
The alliance highlighted studies showing that supporting women in balancing work and family is crucial for boosting birth rates. They called for dismantling the traditional "men work outside, women stay home" model in favor of dual-income, dual-caregiver families. The alliance criticized the government's assumption that childcare is a woman's responsibility and pointed out that policies like childcare allowances and extended unpaid parental leave are inadequate.
Huang Chiao-ling (黃喬鈴), the alliance's spokesperson, argued that childcare subsidies fail to cover long-term expenses and that the extended unpaid leave policy overlooks the challenge of utilizing parental leave in Taiwan. She suggested reducing leave increments to days or hours. Furthermore, she criticized policies promoting women's reemployment as lacking support for childcare-friendly environments.
Huang also mentioned that Executive Yuan (行政院) Minister without Portfolio Chen Shih-chung's (陳時中) proposal of a monthly NT$30,000 subsidy per newborn should instead fund policies effectively enhancing fertility and employment rates. She recommended expanding uninterrupted public childcare services for ages 0 to 12 and creating paid flexible parental leave to maximize support for dual-income families.
Chyn Yu-rung (覃玉蓉), secretary-general of the Awakening Foundation (婦女新知基金會), remarked that the government's family childcare policy design is flawed and requires deeper consideration across various sectors to meet family childcare needs.
