Legislators yesterday proposed enacting a basic law to address the nation’s dwindling birthrate.
The proposed legislation would define the roles that the government, and business and civil groups would have in tackling the issue — an approach that its sponsors believe would give the matter needed legal specificity.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉), who proposed the bill, along with sponsors and fellow DPP legislators Hsu Chih-chieh (許智傑), Lai Hui-yuan (賴惠員) and Loh Meei-ling (羅美玲), announced the bill at a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Taiwan last year registered a decline in population for the first time, and in the first half of this year recorded 6.46 percent fewer births than in the same period last year, Lai said.
Considering next year is the inauspicious Year of the Tiger, Lai said that the birthrate would likely fall even lower, necessitating legislative action as soon as possible.
The bill is a direct result of a public hearing held by Chiu in February to ascertain from experts and officials the reasons behind the nation’s population woes and potential solutions.
The main takeaways were suggestions to set up a Cabinet-level task force and pass dedicated legislation to address the problem, Chiu said.
The government currently tasks individual agencies with setting their own policy, a strategy that lacks coordination as well as oversight, he said.
There is no standard for evaluating performance, nor is the legal system effectively utilized, he said.
Based on Japan’s 2003 Basic Act for Measures to Cope With Society With Declining Birthrate, the bill aims to clearly define the rights and responsibilities of various groups, including different levels of government, and business and civil organizations, Chiu said.
The Japanese law has helped boost that nation’s birthrate, but a lack of coordination in Taiwan has stymied the efforts of individual agencies, Loh said.
According to the draft, the Executive Yuan would be required to coordinate different agencies, as well as give an annual report to the legislature on results, while holding local governments accountable for implementing policies.
The policies called for in the bill include a sound public and quasi-public childcare environment, subsidies for fertility treatments and measures to reduce the financial burden of child rearing, such as childcare subsidies, and healthcare, preferential housing and tax incentives.
The bill would also provide a legal basis for agencies to budget for related policy.
Childcare is the most pressing issue facing parents today, Hsu said.
Even though the number of quasi-public preschools is on the rise, they still only account for less than 60 percent of all preschools nationwide, he said.
Population policy must start in the public sector, Hsu added.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
New Taipei City prosecutors have indicted a cram school teacher in Sinjhuang District (新莊) for allegedly soliciting sexual acts from female students under the age of 18 three times in exchange for cash payments. The man, surnamed Su (蘇), committed two offenses in 2023 and one last year, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. The office in recent days indicted Su for contraventions of the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act (兒童及少年性剝削防制條例), which prohibits "engaging in sexual intercourse or lewd acts with a minor over the age of 16, but under the age of 18 in exchange for
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty