At today's meeting of the Executive Yuan's board of population policy, Vice Premier Lin Hsi-yao said population issues are a matter of national security given their potential impact on work force size, housing supply, tax revenues, education and immigration. Even transportation issues must be reconsidered, which is why the government's forward-looking infrastructure program is devoting more resources to railway systems in anticipation of future population needs.
Advanced nations around the world are coping with graying populations and fewer births, issues that have become increasingly serious in Taiwan. The nation's fertility rate bottomed out at 0.9 in 2010 before inching back up to 1.2 in 2015. And according to the latest estimates, Taiwan's population 65 or older will exceed 20 percent (increasing by 1.8 million people) sometime in the next 10 years, and double current levels in just 20 years. The speed at which the nation's population structure is changing is creating a population crisis, the vice premier said.
To address these challenges, the administration rolled out a raft of policies and programs since taking office last May, including adding 1,000 more kindergarten classes in four years, and raising the student quota at quality, affordable public preschools by 30,000. The government also launched the long-term care 2.0 plan, more than tripling the long-term care budget from NT$5.4 billion (US$167.1 million) last year to NT$18 billion (US$592.3 million) this year, and further raising it to NT$37 billion (US$1.2 billion) for 2018. These policies are designed to help people achieve work-life balance while easing the burden of families caring for disabled elderly members. And to provide economic security in retirement for generations to come, legislation has been proposed to reform the nation's various pension systems.
Today's meeting also discussed 2017 amendments to a government program on creating a supportive environment for childbirth and childrearing. The vice premier said the plan should look beyond meeting people's post-marriage needs and emphasize the education system and work-life balance as well, as it will encourage the marriage-eligible population to wed and have children earlier, and enable the working age population to remain in the work force after marriage and parenthood.
The National Development Council said that the program will be amended to improve Taiwan's childrearing environment and optimize factors that can raise fertility levels. The proposed amendments include three main strategies: make infant/preschool public child care services universal, encourage work-life balance, and support families with children. Several key measures are included:
1. Promote publicly funded child care services, expand the ranks of nonprofit preschools, and encourage local governments to increase the number of public preschools.
2. Review the registration system for home-based daycare services and move toward making daycare a public-sector service.
3. Review the parental leave system for each stage of the child-raising process, encourage employers to implement leave policies, and promote the idea that both parents should share child care responsibilities.
4. Review all child care subsidy and grant mechanisms, and consider whether future child care policies should focus more on in-kind benefits rather than cash payments.
5. Continue to give families with children priority consideration for housing subsidies and social housing.