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Updated Saturday, August 21, 2010 9:19 pm TWN, Letter to the editor

Importing foreigners to boost birthrate is illogical

This letter is in response to the article printed on page 20 in The China Post on Tuesday, Aug. 17, entitled, “Taiwan population growth estimated to stop by 2022.”

The government here never ceases to amaze.

Don't give us foreigners any rights, but try to make attractive incentive packages for more of us to come here to increase your birth rates?

I honestly do not understand the logic of this, at all. As usual, the government talks before thinking.

Perhaps the government in Taiwan should offer a package similar to what the Japanese do.

The government in Japan offers an equivalent of about NT$10,000 a month for each child, every month, until the child turns 15.

What a great incentive to have kids, and NT$10,000 a month would really be a great assistance to people in Taiwan, both foreigners and locals.

Currently, if you have one kid in Taiwan the government will give you ... drum roll please ... absolutely nothing!

I believe the government offers about NT$3000, one time, if you have your third kid.

“What?! Your third kid? I cannot afford one kid as it is!”

I think this statement will resonate with many readers.

The government, although trying to make an effort, still fails to understand the situation.

Next year they will offer NT$20,000 for the first kid, but this is a lump sum, enough for maybe one month. This really does not help encourage us to have kids. And guess what else? This policy is only for those who have lived in Taipei City for at least one year. Therefore, that means the rest of the island does not get to take advantage of this.

Although it does not take a genius to figure out why the rate is dropping, the government seems to be completely oblivious to the facts. The biggest reason for the drop is the fact that people worry they do not have enough money to raise their kids, in close second place by time they have to be with their kids.

The government needs to require companies to offer more benefits as well as enforce work hour laws, and until they do that, nothing is ever going to change. Offering an incentive, like the one offered in Japan, would be a step in the right direction, but I honestly do not see anything like this ever happening in Taiwan because politicians would prefer to bicker about non-essential issues rather than look at the real hard questions which have been plaguing Taiwan for years.

I am still in disbelief after reading such nonsense in Tuesday's paper.

If attracting foreigners to the island is your route, than you had better first change the laws that allow the current foreigners staying here to have more equal rights. Especially those of us who are married, have kids, or have lived here for many years, because the current laws are unfair, unjustified and do not satisfy a majority of us.

In addition, as usual, the government never asks those long timers how they feel or what they need for fear of what we may actually say. Indeed I know this problem runs much deeper than I have space for in this letter.

The only advice I have is to quickly study the Japanese incentive package if you wish to quickly increase the birthrate in Taiwan. Moreover, make it available for the entire island, not just certain regions

Monty Karl IV

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Comments

December 11, 2010 Leiduowen@

I fully subscribe to the opinions expressed here. Taiwan is facing serious demographic challenges already, and if the government doesn't take whole-hearted measures to improve this situation, this island's future prospects are quite grim, I dare say.

June 18, 2011 miller.henry641@

You want to boost birth rates?

Simple...bring in Mexicans to work in the factories.

June 23, 2011 ludahai_twn@

Making gaining citizenship for those foreigners who are married with children without having to give up existing citizenship would be a step forward as well...

June 24, 2011 johnny.biran@

High cost of living is the root cause of slow population growth rate in Taiwan. The government is near-sighted when giving incentives, quick fix to problem, not a working solution. Neither do they have a long-term plan. Well, let's wait till 2022 as the population growth stops, then start importing foreigners, preferably from nearby countries.

June 25, 2011 brodwong123@

I think the writer of this article should go home to his home country and stop complaining. Maybe his home country can offer much more benefits to him?

June 27, 2011 workingcouple@

My wife and I are both working. We have a 1&10 month old boy whom we send to a day-care center until 5 in the afternoon. He has been confined in the hospital twice for pneumonia -- once when he was just 7 months old; the other time, a year after that. Whenever one or two of his schoolmates has a cough or a cold, expect ours to have one too. I realize that it's cruel for us to send him to school at such a young age; but then, our hands are tied and the government does not allow us to hire a foreign nanny as they do to older sick people in our society. We pay our taxes to the country like ordinary citizens do. My wife is pestering me about giving birth to a baby girl but I always turn her down for reasons most of you know. Easy to reproduce a person, difficult to raise one. It's time this government hears our pleas and allows dual working couples to hire foreign help.


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