Just because. Policy here seems cobbled up as short term stop-gap measures. You know well enough there is no rhyme and reason to these edicts 
l understand it. I wouldnât trust my kids to most Taiwanese neither, but I trust my inlaws in Taiwan. We had to move back to Europe to be comfortable raising up family. At first was very hard for my spouse but we do agree our life quality is better now. But yea it came with price.
It is a question, how much is actually their personal choice, but rather consequence of reality where 2 full time incomes are needed for mortgage. And is it in women best interest to have kids in late 30s, when body is older and chances for complications higher? Societies around the world are more pro kids or less. We are willing to pay high taxes in Germany to assure families have good quality. My observations is Taiwan improves slowly. Raising kids in Taiwan relay on guy family. There is a lot of rich families in Taiwan and they help taking care of grandkids.
And to certain degree, I believe a man has to create living conditions, a vibe where women is comfortable and happy to have kids. With feminization of guys happening in last decades, less guys have skills, mindset to provide for a family.
Well this is mostly an American and an Asian reality. I have inflation protected cost for kindergarten and I pay like 80 euros per child for food, pumpers etc while day care is sponsored by region, city. My salary adjusts to inflation. Child allowance per child is 200 euros and we received something over 30k euros in maternity leave per child. We shared 15 months of maternity leave and our jobs are protected. Basically they can not fire us. Unless they are ready I take them to court.
Public transportation is free for kids. Most of enterence ticket (museum, swimming pools etc) is free of charge up to 6 years old. From 6th to 15 is half price. Or with generous family discount. People on this forum will say Europe is in stagnation. My humble opinion is family life has the highest quality in Europe.
This is an American thing. I had scholarship and part time job when was studying in Germany. Tuition was paid by state. I never had student debt, neither was supported by my rich parents. What about your sibling comes to Taiwan to study. By doing part time English teaching all cost can be covered.
p
1 Like
I wonât deny Europe, especially Germany, is a great place to raise kids compared to the US or Asia, but I donât have EU citizenship, nor do I have a reason to live there, nor friends/family there. But Europe is also facing the same population decline as everywhere else in the developed world â all the benefits the government ensures are great, but people arenât having a lot of kids there either.
1 Like
Like I said people prefer dopamine fast impulse life on social mass media rather than long term commitment and planning.
.
I donât think thatâs a fair assessment. Germans were able to do something about corporations hoarding housing and causing the prices to skyrocket. In the rest of the world, housing is more and more of a pyramid scheme, precisely because the governments are not pushing back against pyramid scheme corporate buying of housing. You have that issue plus wages stagnating for 35+ years with prices continuing to go up and itâs obvious there are actual barriers to having children that didnât exist when my parents had me.
On average, women make much closer salaries to men when they donât have children. Itâs a âmotherhood penaltyâ more than a âpenalty for being a womanâ â women still donât get paid the same amount of money as their male counterparts, and those lost years of work experience mean lower overall lifetime earnings. I often wonder why my mom and dad are still together, since itâs clear they are only tolerating one another. It all comes down to the reality that their combined finances mean they can have a much higher quality of living than if they lived separately. My mom had been making significantly more than my dad, but then he expected her to quit her job and grad school and raise us. Now theyâre both stuck in a position where itâs obvious theyâd be happier living separate lives, but they canât because they had kids. This is because the societies I have lived in (US and TW) make it impossible for women to get back on track after they have children. You either sacrifice the opportunity to have children or you sacrifice your career. You canât have both.
My decision to hold off on having children has nothing to do with social media or dopamine. This forum is the only âsocial mediaâ Iâm on anymore anyway. My decision not to have kids at the moment comes from my own understanding that I need to have my retirement fund in order and plans for my student loans to be paid off. Having children right now would lead to the same consequences my mother is facing right now: living with a man who she doesnât want to be with anymore because of the knowledge that she canât make it through retirement if she tries it any other way. Thereâs nothing selfish about that. If youâre unhappy and stressed about your future, how can you provide your children with a quality upbringing? The reality is you canât.
If governments really want people to have more children, they need to consider the root reasons why people arenât having children. Right now TWâs government isnât trying at all. This NT$5000 looks more like an unnecessary bump for the families that have âbuilt in childcareâ (aka grandparents to look after the kids) The US had a bill that would have helped (and worked wonderfully in the few months âtrial runâ) but the GOP only wants to make sure women have more babies, not be supported in any way when it comes to raising them. So here we are.
3 Likes
quincy davis?
They need a line. and of course they round down because it is a huge cost they dont yet realize is actually an investment. Perhaps once the gov has faith in the education system here, they will change. But to play devilâs advocate, I dont blame them given the corruption, quality and all that. Arguably, the government isnt really responsible for peoples children anyway. It is a hairy situation, that route.
Population decline is in full swing here in Hokkaido and it doesnât seem that bad to me. The village nearest me is full of hardy-looking old people now and the elementary school shut down after it was consolidated with a nearby town. More and more businesses are gone and their parking lots overgrown with weeds. The countryside is turning wild. Forests are expanding. Wildlife is more abundant. The quiet at night is profound, unbroken by any artificial sounds.
9 Likes
You clearly are earning your income elsewhere.
For local businesses seeking workers, and municipalities seeking tax revenues, the implications of these changes are less positive.
Guy
6 Likes
Poor guy has to use the Internet to connect with people in another country just to get a little social contact!
1 Like
I like peace and quiet and nature as much as the next guy.
But wholesale population decline (and exodus of young people, which is what is happening in Hokkaido) can lead to serious problems.
Guy
I spent yesterday and today visiting customers here who use my products which are manufactured in Taiwan. Thereâs actually plenty of money and demand here for products which improve efficiency as the population declines. Lots of tourists bringing money in and increasing demand throughout Asia for agricultural products.
1 Like
Thatâs true. I only know two people in this whole region who speak English, one of whom is my translator, and the rest I communicate with using Google translate. I go for days though where I donât see another human being. That took some getting used to and now I find myself getting a little anxious when Iâm around people.
2 Likes
Yes, thatâs exactly my point, you are not counting on a young labour force in Hokkaido.
Wait tourists are back in Hokkaido? This is news to me!
Guy
Japanese tourists, lots of them from the big cities down south.
1 Like
My parents have always been more hardworking and I think they had it harder than us.
So why donât you jump on pyramid scheme? Is backed up by government. Money flies around. Reach out your hands and catch it. I failed at business, was taxed 50% and end up in debt while being squized out. For a year or two was was angry on the whole world, and than I have moved on. Learnt programming and I spent a lot of time studying investment. So far it works perfectly. Like Buffett said you better make when you sleep
2 Likes
The report estimated Taiwanâs over-18 population in 2022 at 217,000, a sharp drop from 307,000 in 2018, which it attributed to the countryâs falling birth rate.
With the birth rate unlikely to recover in the next few years, Taiwanâs over-18 population is expected to drop below 200,000 by 2026 and to around 166,000 by 2028, which will exacerbate the countryâs military recruitment problem.
6 Likes
WTF are they trying to write here. 
5 Likes
Am I reading it wrong? Does the article mean under 18 populations?
You canât čŁ this deficit with immigration. The others (talent, labor) you can.