Taipei Reduces Work Hours in Bid To Combat Low Birth Rate
To encourage more people to have children, the Taipei city government is rolling out a new policy allowing parents with children under 12 to leave work one hour early each day. It comes as Taiwan overtakes South Korea as the society with the world's lowest birth rate.
REPORTER:
Balancing work and children is a pressure that has many Taiwanese parents exhausted. Intense work culture, including long and demanding work hours, can leave little time for family life. Looking to lend a helping hand, the Taipei City government is rolling out a new policy allowing parents with children under 12 to leave work 1 hour early each day. It comes as Taiwan overtakes South Korea as the country with the world's lowest birth rate.
Chiang Wan-an （TAIPEI MAYOR）：
In terms of funding, we will of course use our existing government budget to cover it. If necessary, we will also consider backup funds. During the trial period, we can conduct rolling reviews. At least we have taken the first step.
REPORTER:
Businesses appear open to discussing the new policy, but say it depends on what kind of job parents are working.
Hsu Shu-po（CHAIR, NATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE）：
Businesses don't object but it depends on the nature of the work and whether the worker has this need. Some are paid by the case while others are fixed-salary workers.
REPORTER:
Civil groups are also generally supportive. But they're concerned the policy might affect worker benefits.
Wang Zhao-qing （POLICY ADVOCATE ALLIANCE）：
They can give you a low score on your year-end performance review or deduct from the year-end bonus. If workers are concerned about this, they probably won’t really be able to benefit.
REPORTER:
And young people in Taipei say that reducing work hours is not enough. They pointed to larger concerns regarding low salaries and the rising cost of living... issues that discourage people from having children.
STREET INTERVIEW 1:
I don’t think there’s a direct link between ending work early and the birth rate. I think it should be a subsidy or something that reduces the financial burden on parents. Then parents might be more willing to have children.
STREET INTERVIEW 2:
People keep working overtime because they're not getting paid enough. Isn't that a cycle? Of course, if they were paid better people probably wouldn't need to work overtime so often.
REPORTER:
Taiwan has tried out similar initiatives in recent years, things like cash incentives, improved parental leave, and even assisted reproduction technology. But despite these efforts, the country’s birth rate has continued to fall, dampening hopes this new policy will have much impact on Taiwan’s demographic dilemma.
