Taiwan Fathers Taking More Parental Leave, but Gender Gaps Remain
By Devin Tsai/Irene Lin
Ahead of Taiwan's Father's Day, labor data reveals a historic shift: flexible parental leave options introduced this year saw male applicants outnumber female applicants in both May and June. However, labor advocates point out that traditional gender norms and the "fatherhood bonus"—where men earn higher workplace rewards for being the traditional breadwinners—still make it financially challenging for fathers to step away. To further encourage shared parenting, the Cabinet and the legislature are pushing cross-party reforms to expand paid parental leave.
Cradling his now eight-month-old daughter... Wu Tsung-yuan is one of the few full-time dads in Taiwan. He's set to go back work at the end of the month... After he and his wife each took six months of paid leave to spend more time with their newborn.
WU TSUNG-YUAN, FATHER ON PARENTAL LEAVE:
"We decided to take parental leave together because we felt that a child only grows up once and we’re both first-time parents. We wanted to face it together. After all, we live on our own and have minimal backup. Parental leave pays a part of one’s salary plus a subsidy. After we discussed this and evaluated our situation we found that having both of our monthly payments is actually enough to cover our living expenses."
The current rules allow parents like Wu to take a total of two years off before the child turns three... Six months of it are paid up to a maximum of about 11 hundred US dollars, while the rest is unpaid... And as of this January, parents are also allowed to take 30 individual days off.
Thanks to the extra flexibility, there have been more fathers taking time off to be with family. They even surpassed the number of mothers on leave in May... according to the labor ministry's latest figures. Still, the numbers show that more than half of all applicants are women. Some local NGOs worry that traditional gender roles persist.
YANG SHU-WEI, TAIWAN LABOUR FRONT:
"In Taiwan, the responsibility for childcare often gets shifted to women. This causes women’s labor participation to drop significantly after age 30. On the other hand we can see that men face the same problem where they have to devote themselves to their career."
These assumptions often translate into tangible salary bonuses for working fathers... Tilting the income scale in their favor over mothers when deciding who should keep working.
LI TING-HSIN, CHILDCARE POLICY ADVOCACY ALLIANCE:
"There used to be a term, the 'fatherhood bonus' which stems from the traditional assumption that fathers are the breadwinners. Because of it, when fathers have a child their salary, compensation or working hours might increase, like they’d get more overtime hours. Managers may also feel, 'Hey, now you’re a dad, you seem like a reliable person.' As a result, they get more opportunities for pay raises and promotion than women do. Taking leave would lead to a sharp drop in his income which doesn’t help with maintaining the family’s financial security."
For fathers who want to take time off... Workplace advantages and pressure can also make it harder for them to step away from the job. Especially if they work in competitive industries like tech.
WILL WANG, NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF PARENTS ORG.:
"The average parents of young children have three to five years of work experience. In high-pressure workplaces, workloads are heavy and employees have relatively low autonomy. Government regulations should be more compulsory. When major tech firms or organizations take the lead or set an example it could drive change in our work environment."
And relief may be in sight. The Cabinet is looking to add several benefits on top of the current parental leave rules... The six months of paid leave could become nine months... the 30 flexible days of leave will become 60 days... and parents with children under six years old will also be eligible.
WU TSUNG-YUAN, FATHER ON PARENTAL LEAVE:
"If an emergency comes up with my child like if she needs to see a doctor or if the nanny has an urgent issue and needs a day off I would feel less worried about whether I have extra leave days available."
Taiwan has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. Cross-party consensus is building in the legislature for measures to ease a potential demographic crisis... ...and parents and activists hope that the latest reform will help change gender roles and workplace culture... giving fathers and their children more time to bond.
