Taiwan Unveils Bold Plan: Monthly Allowance for Children Under 18 to Tackle Low Birth Rate

Taiwan Announces Annual 950 Billion Won Family Support Plan
Lai Ching-te: "Low Birth Rate Is a National Security Issue"

Taiwan is considering a plan to provide children and adolescents under the age of 18 with a monthly allowance of 5,000 New Taiwan dollars (approximately 230,000 won) as part of its efforts to address declining birth rates. This year, Taiwan entered a super-aged society, with the proportion of people aged 65 and older surpassing 20%, intensifying issues such as low birth rates and labor shortages.

According to the Taiwan Central News Agency on May 20, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te defined the low birth rate as a national security issue in his second anniversary inauguration speech and announced the family support segment of the "New Taiwan Population Policy Strategy."

President Lai stated that the government will soon announce a family support policy comprising 18 measures in total.

The measures include providing a monthly growth allowance of 5,000 New Taiwan dollars per person to children and adolescents aged 0 to 18. Part of this will be set up in the form of a child future account, enabling the funds to be used for education, starting a business, or household expenses when the recipient turns 18. The plan is to strengthen support across all areas, including marriage, pregnancy, childbirth, parenting, workplace culture improvement, and housing assistance, so that young people can choose to marry, give birth, and raise children without financial burden.

President Lai emphasized that the declining birth rate is a task that must be tackled as a national strategy. He noted that the government has previously implemented a national childcare policy for infants and young children aged 0 to 6 to support families hesitant to have children for economic reasons, and has promoted infertility treatment support policies for those facing physiological difficulties in childbirth.

He also mentioned that some systems have been improved to create a more family-friendly work environment, but given the recent downward trend in the number of newborns, he judged that the existing policies alone are insufficient.

President Lai added that in addition to the family support segment, follow-up population policies will be announced to respond to the issues of declining population and labor shortages in Taiwan.

President Lai also stated that the budget for the family support segment is expected to reach about 200 billion New Taiwan dollars per year (approximately 953.2 billion won). He explained that, as Taiwan's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to exceed 32 trillion New Taiwan dollars (about 1,525.12 trillion won) this year and tax revenues are rising, the budget for other major policies will not be affected.

He further emphasized, "With economic growth and increased tax revenues, investing in support for youth and children, the future of our nation, is essential."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.