Family Caregiving in Taiwan

A detailed research was presented in one of the parallel events of CSW 62 about Taiwan’s policy around “Family caregiving” where the government is concerned about the declining fertility rate.

The presentation started by presenting a rising Human Development Index for Taiwan, implying the potential to improve the declining fertility rate. It is also true that if a country has strong family care policy then the birth rate can be raised. As found, generally people in Taiwan want to get married and have kids, but the family care burden discourages them from having kids even if they marry.

Taiwan government has strived to provide solutions to this problem in several ways. The government of Taiwan has established a Gender Equity office. The office has developed a family care policy which has formulated several working policies like; Mother to-be policy, Mother/Father or Parental policy, childcare and support policy, Nanny support program, and After school programs.

In the policy analysis it is noted that the framework is centred around parenting empowerment which provides the facilities as well as programs like financial assistance, child development program, and skill building program.

It is the conclusion of the presented policy analysis document that no single policy can change the fertility rate. It is also important to note the issue of gender equality, example the imbalance of housework by working hours. There might be a need to develop a more woman-centred policy that not only provides the women child care support, but also flexibility in their working hours. 

Singapore is one success story, where the global city is recorded to have the longest working hours, making it more likely to have low fertility rate. But Singapore used its family care policy with a combination of various other government support programs, subsidies, incentives and promotions to improve the small island country’s birth rate.