Comment by toomuchtodo

2 days ago

A combination of economic conditions and work pressures, in part, have led Taiwan to have the lowest fertility rate in the world. There is a cultural component as well, I've cited the most relevant parts from the below citation, the whole piece is worth a read on the topic imho.

Taiwan Is Running Out of Children - https://dominotheory.com/taiwan-is-running-out-of-children/ - April 27th, 2026

- Earlier this month, the Ministry of the Interior announced that Taiwan’s total fertility rate last year dropped from 0.885 to 0.695, marking the fastest decline in recorded history. For a population to stay roughly the same size, the fertility rate, which measures the average number of children each woman is expected to have over her lifetime, must be around 2.1. The National Development Council projects that by 2070, Taiwan’s population will decline 35% to 15 million. At this point, more than half of the people in Taiwan will be over the age of 65.

- Despite the 600 billion New Taiwan dollars (roughly $19 billion) that the government has poured into fixing the problem over the past eight or so years, Taiwan’s population has continued to decline.

- Chen cited housing prices as a main deterrent to having children, which outstrip what people can generally afford. President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) promised during his campaign to build 130,000 new social housing units, but the target has since dropped to 40,000 to 60,000 units, with Lai’s government shifting its focus to rental subsidies. Chen thinks subsidies are a subpar solution, as renters are still subject to the whims of the landlord. “I don’t think it’s very practical for a young couple or a young family. There’s no long term stability,” said Chen.

- Work pressure is another deterrent to having children in Taiwan, where average working hours are the second longest in Asia and the fifth longest in the world. Chen cited a possible solution in a recent initiative by Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), which has the government subsidizing flexible working hours for parents with children younger than 12.