Taiwan’s total fertility rate increased from an all-time low of 0.895 in 2010 to between 1.05 and 1.07 in 2011, according to the Council for Economic Planning and Development March 16.
“This means that women in Taiwan bear just over one child on average,” the CEPD said, adding that the final figure will be released in May.
The council said it expects to see an even higher TFR in 2012, which is the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac and considered a lucky year to have children.
Taiwan had the world’s lowest birth rate in 2010, with only 166,886 newborn children, 24,424 fewer than in 2009. The CEPD explained that people avoided having children in 2010 because it was the Year of the Tiger—one of the most inauspicious years for having a child, according to folk belief.
Another factor contributing to the record-low birthrate in 2010 was that fewer couples got married in 2009, which according to an ancient superstition is a "widow's year" and therefore not a suitable time for getting married.
Over the years, Taiwan has seen fewer newborns in the Year of the Tiger, the CEPD said, adding that the figure usually picks up the following year, or the Year of the Rabbit, and that it increases remarkably in the Year of the Dragon.
According to CEPD statistics, another major factor contributing to the nation’s low fertility rate is the growing number of single women in Taiwan.
Chen Kuan-jeng, an official with the Ministry of the Interior’s Population Policy Committee, said even if Taiwan’s TFR increases to 1.1 this year, its TFR will still remain below the world’s average.
“A better way to boost the national TFR would be to encourage childbearing in those who have no plans to have children, and to provide parents with long-term subsidies,” he said.
Between 2006 and 2010, Taiwan’s TFR steadily declined in spite of campaigns by the government encouraging people to have more children.
By contrast, Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea have all seen their fertility rates increase over the last few years. Japan, for instance, saw its TFR increase from 1.26 in 2005 to 1.39 in 2010.
According to experts, TFR is a more direct measure of the level of fertility than the crude birth rate, since TFR refers to births per woman and shows the potential for population change in a country. A rate of two children per woman is considered the replacement rate for a population, resulting in relative stability in terms of total numbers. (HZW)
Write to Rachel Chan at rachelchan@mail.gio.gov.tw