The average life expectancy for Taiwanese women in 2010 stood at 82.7 years, up from 79.6 years in 2000, according to the latest figures released by the Cabinet-level Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.
Women’s life expectancy was 6.5 years longer than that for men.
“Factors contributing to this phenomenon include the greater likelihood for men to be engaged in dangerous jobs and have unhealthy habits such as smoking, drinking and chewing betel nuts,” an unnamed DGBAS official said March 7.
DGBAS statistics also indicated that the number of employed women in 2010 stood at 4.61 million, compared to 3.82 million in 2000.
“The rise can be attributed to greater encouragement to join the job market as education has spread among women, and more women have gone on to higher levels of education,” the official noted. Last year 35.8 percent of females held a bachelor’s degree or above, a 14.7-percent gain over 2000, he added.
The data also showed that at the end of 2009 women’s average age at first marriage was 28.9 and the mean age for giving birth was 30.2, up from 26.1 and 28.2, respectively, in 2000.
In addition, the figures revealed an imbalance of 109 boys to 100 girls between the sexes at birth in 2010. The disparity is due to the traditional notion of valuing males over females, according to the DGBAS. (THN)
Write to Grace Kuo at morningk@mail.gio.gov.tw