A women’s rights organization yesterday criticized the government for failing to afford women equal treatment in its special budget for a four-year economic stimulus plan aimed at addressing the economic crisis.
In a report to mark International Women’s Day, the Awakening Foundation said the Executive Yuan’s NT$500 billion (US$14.38 billion) plan, which has a job-creation component, ignored unemployed women.
The lion’s share of the budget has been allocated for construction projects, while NT$36.7 billion will go toward maintaining employment stability and helping students in financial difficulty continue their education, the report said.
Citing Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics employment figures for 2007, the foundation said nearly 70 percent of workers in the industrial sector — mining, manufacturing, power/fuel/water supply, pollution treatment and construction — were male. The percentage of female workers in those industries was less than half the percentage of male employees, the foundation said.
The civic group said most of the people being forced to take unpaid leave were production-line workers, in particular female workers. It said this finding was based on the calls it has received from people seeking assistance.
Single mothers often choose to work part time or at places that offer flexible hours because they need time to look after their children, the foundation said.
However, low-skilled jobs are usually the first to be cut in an economic downturn, it said. As a result, single mothers are usually the first victims of a recession.
Upon its completion next year, the new Tamkang Bridge (淡江大橋) in New Taipei City is to be an important landmark in Taiwan, alongside Taipei 101, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shi-kai (陳世凱) said today. The bridge is scheduled to be completed in December next year and open to the public in the first half of 2026, connecting New Taipei City’s Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里) districts. It is an asymmetric single-tower suspension bridge, nearly 70 stories tall, designed by world-famous architect Zaha Hadid. The bridge aims to alleviate traffic in Tamsui and on the Guandu Bridge (關渡大橋), in addition to increasing the
EXERCISES: A 2022 article by a Chinese intelligence expert identified at least six People’s Liberation Army assault boats hidden inside the Hong Kong-flagged ship A Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship that had been docked at Taichung Port and which previously took part in Chinese military exercises departed from the port on Saturday, the Taiwan International Ports Corp’s Taichung branch said yesterday. The statement came in response to a post on the social media platform X by Taiwan-based journalist Chris Horton that said the ship, the SCSC Fortune, had been docked at the port since Tuesday and questioned whether Taiwan has any rules regarding foreign civilian vessels that have participated in People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises. Horton referenced a 2022 article by Chinese intelligence expert Rod Lee that
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