The Executive Yuan yesterday unveiled a NT$9.1 billion (US$325.1 million) package of subsidies for parental leave, prenatal screenings and in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures in a bid to boost the nation’s birthrate.
The parts of the proposal that do not require legislative consent are to be implemented from July 1, Executive Yuan spokesman and Minister Without Portfolio Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) told a news conference in Taipei after a regular Cabinet meeting.
Amendments to the Employment Insurance Act (就業保險法) and other regulations would increase the allowance for parental leave from 60 percent of insured salary to 80 percent, he said.
Photo: Fang Chih-hsien, Taipei Times
The increased allowance, which is to cost NT$4.2 billion, would draw funding from sources other than the Labor Insurance Fund to avoid crowding out other benefits, he said.
Amendments to the Act of Gender Equality in Employment (性別工作平等法) would allow spouses to go on concurrent parental leaves with allowances for one to six months, and each household can avail of this leave twice, he said.
Other, shorter-term leaves for childcare would also be permitted under proposed changes, he said.
In addition, workers would be able to apply for unpaid parental leave regardless of the employment status of their spouse and without providing a reason for doing so, he said.
Workers would have to give employers advance notice before taking parental leave to facilitate staffing arrangements at the workplace, he said.
Eligibility for the government’s IVF subsidies would be broadened to include all married couples who cannot conceive if at least one of the spouses is Taiwanese and the woman is under 45 years of age, Ministry of Health and Welfare Deputy Minister Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said.
Income restrictions were removed after the program reported that only 52 low and medium-income couples enrolled for IVF subsidies, which produced only seven births over the past six years, he said.
Higher-income households are to receive a subsidy of NT$100,000 for their first IVF procedure and NT$60,000 for each one after that, he said.
As before, low and medium-low income households are to receive a subsidy of up to NT$150,000 per procedure.
Households in which the wife is younger than 40 years old can claim subsidies for six IVF procedures per conception, while households in which the wife is aged 40 to 45 can claim three.
Officials estimate that the expanded subsidies would benefit between 23,000 and 28,000 households, and that the program would cost up to NT$3.2 billion.
Free prenatal screenings would be increased from 10 to 14 for each pregnancy, while coverage would be broadened to include screenings for gestational diabetes and anemia, and two ultrasound tests.
Subsidies for the screenings would also be raised to improve the health of pregnant women, reduce infant mortality rate and encourage people to go into obstetrics.
The revised prenatal screening subsidies should benefit about 160,000 households and cost about NT$1.25 billion.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) yesterday apologized after the suicide of a civil servant earlier this month and announced that a supervisor accused of workplace bullying would be demoted. On Nov. 4, a 39-year-old information analyst at the Workforce Development Agency’s (WDA) northern branch, which covers greater Taipei and Keelung, as well as Yilan, Lienchiang and Kinmen counties, was found dead in their office. WDA northern branch director Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容), who has been accused of involvement in workplace bullying, would be demoted to a nonsupervisory position, Ho told a news conference in Taipei. WDA Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) said he would
RSS