At the Cabinet's weekly meeting Thursday, Premier Cho Jung-tai received a Ministry of Labor (MOL) briefing on new eligibility criteria for hiring foreign domestic helpers, aimed at prioritizing support for households with special needs. The premier said the MOL is introducing the new system to ease pressure on families and enable workers to remain in the workforce with confidence. Under the revised criteria, any household with a child under the age of 12 can apply for a foreign domestic helper, with priority given to disadvantaged families and those with special or high care needs.
Premier Cho added that the MOL, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, will implement three complementary measures. First, to safeguard the rights and interest of Taiwanese workers, the government will expand job opportunities for parenting educators, strengthen job matching for child care and housework services, and provide both employment incentives and professional skills training for local workers. Second, to ensure the quality of household services, domestic helpers will be classified as household assistants and therefore receive training in basic skills and knowledge, as well as in-home guidance from parenting educators. Third, for families with special needs, the government will streamline administrative review processes, provide priority assistance and reduce employment stability fees.
Premier Cho stressed that these new measures are designed not to replace the existing child care and care service systems, but to provide an alternative for household assistance. He directed the MOL to establish proper review and management processes to ensure the smooth launch of the new system on April 13, 2026, and to support citizens in balancing family and work responsibilities.