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Transition from Anti-natalist to Pro-natalist Policies in Taiwan

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Low Fertility, Institutions, and their Policies

Abstract

Taiwan experienced and completed a demographic transition during the twentieth century. In 1964, the government introduced a family planning program aimed at reducing the birth rate in order to slow down Taiwan’s rapid population growth. Fertility reached the below-replacement level, generally defined as 2.1 births per woman, in 1984. After this, fertility decline accelerated, bringing Taiwan into the list of ultra-low-fertility countries. This chapter examines how fertility changed in Taiwan and how new policies were formulated in an effort to counter low fertility and bring about a fertility increase.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Urban is defined as a settlement with a population of more than 20,000 and a population density of more than 300 per km2. According to this definition, 26.8 % of Taiwan’s population is non-urban (DGBAS 1980).

  2. 2.

    In an era of ultra-low fertility, astrological concerns also affect fertility rates in specific years. The drop in fertility in 2010 and the jump in 2012 were due to the inauspicious Tiger year followed by the favorable Dragon year in the zodiac cycle of the Chinese calendar.

  3. 3.

    The strong family ties characteristic of cultural values in Taiwan emphasize reciprocity between generations. This reciprocity leads to grandparents taking care of small children for their employed daughters or daughters-in-law. It is also represented in the pattern of living arrangements for the elderly. The Elderly Person’s Living Conditions Survey in 2009 showed that 68.5 % of the elderly were living with a son or daughter, 18.8 % were living as part of a couple, and 9.2 % were living alone. Only 2.8 % lived in an institution (Ministry of Interior 2009). Thus, stem family households still remain prevalent, not yet replaced through the forces of industrialization and urbanization.

  4. 4.

    The Act of Gender Equality in Employment was enacted in 2002.

  5. 5.

    The Domestic Violence Prevention Act was enacted in 1998.

  6. 6.

    Since Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations, the index is calculated by the Taiwan government’s Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting, and Statistics (DGBAS 2008b) following technical instructions from UNDP.

  7. 7.

    The Gender Inequality Index (GII) is a composite measure reflecting inequality between women and men in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment, and the labor market. It measures the human-development costs of gender inequality. The GII values range from 0 to 1, and the higher the GII value, the greater the disparity between the status of women and men.

  8. 8.

    Some feminist groups supported the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the 1990s. When the DPP won the presidential election in 2000, ending the Nationalist Party’s half century in power, these feminist groups gained a strong influence on the government’s social policies. A Committee for the Promotion and Development of Women’s Rights was set up in 2000 and played an active role during the years of the DPP regime.

  9. 9.

    The amendment states that a draftee may be eligible for early discharge if he “…has two or more children under the age of 12, or has one child under the age 12 and the spouse is more than six months pregnant.”

  10. 10.

    Those taxpayers paying annual consolidated income tax at a rate of more than 20 % or with a basic income of more than TWD6 million (US$19,433) are not eligible for the deductions.

  11. 11.

    The annual change in real earnings was negative in 2002 (−0.83 %), 2004 (−0.15 %), 2005 (−0.15 %), 2008 (−3.46 %), 2009 (−4.10 %), 2012 (−1.72 %), and 2013 (−0.63 %).

  12. 12.

    In 2014, Hsinchu municipality provided the following amounts as childbirth gifts: TWD15,000 (US$484) for first births, TWD20,000 (US$646) for second births, TWD25,000 (US$807) for third births, TWD50,000 (US$1,615) for twins, and TWD100,000 (US$3,230) for triplets.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Work, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan

    Meilin Lee

  2. Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taipei, Taiwan

    Yu-Hsuan Lin

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  1. Meilin Lee
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  2. Yu-Hsuan Lin
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Correspondence to Meilin Lee .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

    Ronald R. Rindfuss

  2. East-West Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

    Minja Kim Choe

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Lee, M., Lin, YH. (2016). Transition from Anti-natalist to Pro-natalist Policies in Taiwan. In: Rindfuss, R., Choe, M. (eds) Low Fertility, Institutions, and their Policies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32997-0_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32997-0_10

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