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Taiwanese workers are known for having some of the highest average working hours in the world while its birthrate is one of the lowest. Many, like Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim and Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han, believe that by creating more family-friendly workplace policies people will start having children again. Some government proposals include extending unpaid leave to a child’s 6th year as well as increasing the days of parental leave.

After sharing a story of her babysitter career during her high school days in the US, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim shared some of her thoughts for how Taiwanese society can lessen the child-rearing burdens of parents with young children.

Hsiao Bi-khim
Vice President
Many people believe that taking care of children is something that’s the responsibility of families or individuals. For this idea of the government helping families with childcare from birth to 6 years, it also requires businesses, society, and government policy to bear the burden together.

Last year, Taiwan’s fertility rate was just 0.65, the lowest among the country’s closest Asian neighbors. The government hopes that by creating family-friendly workplace polices, bosses will offer a more supportive and flexible working environment so that laborers can balance both their careers and their families, which would then help companies keep talented employees. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han pointed out that expanding the scope of parental leave would allow more men to apply for leave and thereby become important care givers for their households.

Hung Sun-han
Minister of Labor
It’s 30 days of leave, which can be applied for in single-day units. In the past, the ratio was somewhere around 3:1, but statistics from May and June show that the ratio for men and women applying for leave is 1:1. When policies are more flexible, this actually results in men’s child-rearing participation rates skyrocketing.

The Ministry of Labor is working hard to amend regulations for applying for parental leave, such as extending the current policy of allowing parents to apply for unpaid leave from their child’s birth to 3 years old; if approved, parents could apply for leave up to their child’s 6th year. Also, now at 30 days, in the future parents could have up to 60 days of unpaid leave. Maternity leave would be increased from 8 weeks to 12 weeks, and paternity leave would be extended from the current 7 days to 12 days.

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