Taiwan Today

Ji Guan-ling, the head of Warm Life Association for Women, has noticed that more and more women who come to Warm Life ask the same question--"Why do I have to do all the household chores when I work full-time just as my husband does?"

As more opportunities become available to Taiwanese women through higher education, financial independence and greater social space, many are reconsidering the role of marriage in their private lives. More women want more equality in a marriage relationship, and if they cannot get it they are choosing to remain single, get married later in life, or leave unhappy marriages.

The principle of gender equality--equal rights for men and women, regardless of gender--has been gradually taking root in Taiwanese society. Women are not only asking for equal opportunities at work, but equal responsibilities in marriage and at home. Ji says that, for many women, paid employment offers economic benefits and respect in the workplace, yet nothing but the same old chores at home. In this situation, it is only natural that many women today are reluctant to tie the knot, she says.

Traditionally, a woman's role as "homemaker" has been reinforced by a strong family structure, Ji says. "In modern society, the [traditional] structure of the family is loosening; now women often have to work outside the home to support the family."

Though women's average earnings still lag behind men's, women are catching up at a slow, but noticeable pace. According to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS), Taiwanese women in the service industry earned on average 78 percent of men's earnings in 2005, an increase of 8 percent since 1995. The trend is found across many other occupational sectors as well, including retail, real estate, finance and insurance, publishing and advertising.

This new economic power is affecting the dynamics of family life. Women's new identity as family breadwinners empowers them to ask for more out of marriage, Ji says. "One has to have money to gain power in marriage," she says.

Going It Alone

Taiwan's divorce rate reached an all-time high of 0.287 percent in 2003, almost double the rate of 0.145 percent just 10 years earlier. While explanations for this increase vary, Warm Life's Ji Guan-ling suggests that women might be more willing to step out of an unhappy relationship as they become better off financially, or have the opportunity to earn their own living. For women who are interested in starting a business, the government also pitches in to help.

Wei Chien-yi is one of the lecturers and spokespersons promoting the Cabinet-level "Free and Young Program" sponsored by the National Youth Commission (NYC). The program aims to help women to start their own businesses, with services including aptitude tests, training and guidance programs, networking among members and female entrepreneurs, online counseling, and referrals to available resources.

The program was extended in 2007 through the "Butterfly Plan," which provides onsite training and employment opportunities to single mothers, women on a low income or victims of domestic violence.

Since the launch of the plan in July 2007, 47 enterprises have contributed more than 100 practical training sessions and more than 30 women have taken advantage of the scheme in preparation for starting their own businesses. Wei, as the owner of a well-known indigo dyeing brand in Taiwan, Anewei, is one of the female entrepreneurs who offer employment opportunities for women under the Butterfly Plan.

A divorcee and a single mother, Wei says she understands the needs of divorced women, noting that such resources were not available to her at the time she got divorced. She says she encountered problems along the way as a woman who single-handedly started her own business, but believes her success has proven today's women can be financially and psychologically independent from men. Women today are demanding fair treatment and equal status, Wei says.

Wei, who says her then-husband drove her and her daughter out of their home and left them financially destitute five years ago, now talks about her experience with a confident smile. "I may never have found out how much potential I have if I had stayed in my marriage," she says.

Singled Out

Wei says she appreciates the government's efforts to help women, but also worries that too much "protection" could weaken women's autonomy. "Teaching a person to fish is better than giving that person a fish," Wei says. "The government should add more professional training to the program; at the same time, women should be more independent. Being psychologically independent is as important as being financially independent."

Being independent is something many single women know about by default. Chen Yu-hua, division chief of Population Studies in National Taiwan University's Center for Population and Gender Studies, says some groups of women show higher rates of remaining single. Chen cites figures from the Ministry of the Interior showing there are slightly more males than females over the age of 15 in Taiwan, with 130,000 more men in 2006. Despite having a larger pool of potential marriage partners, however, a breakdown of the statistics shows 26 percent of women in the 35-44 age group who have a college diploma are still single, compared with 17 percent of their male counterparts. "Women postpone their plan for marriage after spending time pursuing higher education," Chen says, which in turn affects their marriage opportunities. Later in life, the age factor does not hurt men as much as it does women, Chen says. "Men do not become 'less desirable' with age, but women do," she says.

At any rate, Chen says there is a sense among women that marriage is not the only option and that education changes more than the life "timetable" for most women. "Education also changes their perspective on marriage from seeing it as an 'exchange of resources' to an equal relationship in which spouses provide support to each other," Chen says. "There is also less social pressure upon single women nowadays, especially in urban areas."

Chi Hui-jung, the CEO of the Garden of Hope Foundation, an NGO for women and children, says she considered marriage when she was younger, but chose to remain single. "I examined the priorities of my life, and I was unwilling to bet the happiness of the rest of my life on a man unless an equal commitment could be made," she says. Chi says her parents pressured her to get married in the beginning, but gradually accepted her choice. "My father now tells me that he is very proud of me and the work I do," Chi says. She is more certain than ever that being single is a good thing. "I live an enriched life, with my job, my friends and family members. I enjoy the freedom and the greater time and energy I have to care for my family."

Fu Li-yeh, associate professor in the Graduate Institute of Social Administration and Social Work at National Chengchi University (NCCU), says that in addition to equal status in a relationship, most women today look for partners who will support them emotionally. "Many men want this, too, but at the same time many of them are unwilling to give up the paternal hierarchy of a traditional family," Fu says, adding that this has prompted some men to look for marriage partners from abroad.

The latest report from the Ministry of the Interior shows 18.3 percent of marriages in 2007 involved a foreign spouse. These immigrants were overwhelmingly female--more than 85 percent of marriages saw a Taiwanese man paired with a foreign woman--with most coming from China and countries in Southeast Asia.

NCCU's Fu and Warm Life's Ji say the men in these cases seek women who are willing to settle for a family life based on traditional gender roles. They also point out that such cross-border marriages may deepen gender discrimination. Fu says that with fewer social support systems available to them, foreign spouses are more likely to be treated unfairly. Ji says that foreign spouses usually have low status in the marriage, especially in unions arranged via a paid "matchmaker."

"The biggest problem [in Taiwan] is that men refuse to accept women's growth and want things to stay the way they were in the past," Ji says.

Children or Career?

While some women are feeling "forced to choose" between a traditional marriage or perhaps no marriage at all, Taiwan's total fertility rate has dropped, reaching a historic low of 1.1 children per woman in 2005. The rate offers a measure of the prevailing fertility in a given year and lower birth rates are a big factor behind Taiwan's increasingly "graying" society.

Aiming to raise the birth rate, the Executive Yuan announced a new childcare subsidy for families of low to moderate income. Starting from this month, any married couple of two working parents with a joint annual pre-tax income of less than NT$1.5 million (US$46,000) will be eligible for a childcare subsidy of NT$3,000 (US$90) per month for each child less than 2 years old. While the scheme might show that the government is taking the matter seriously, some have questioned its approach.

NCCU's Fu Li-yeh says a recent report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development suggests a childcare subsidy is not the best way to go. "Affordable and good quality public facilities that combine early education and childcare have proven to be more effective," Fu says.

Chi Hui-jung shares the sentiment, adding, "most of the current childcare centers are expensive and have been overly commercialized." According to Chi, more access to public childcare will provide a friendlier environment for women who want to bear children, especially those who want to continue a professional career after giving birth.

NTU's Chen Yu-hua points out that for most Taiwanese women, "having a child is still tied closely with marriage." She thinks the remedy for Taiwan's low birth rate is to get back to the basics, that is, to urge women to get married.

NGO leaders Ji Guan-ling and Chi Hui-jung emphasize that education is the key to promoting relationships in which both spouses are equals. This, they say, would encourage women to enter marriage and have more children. "It all comes down to education and developing good habits for both genders," says Ji, adding she has taught her children to share household chores and be more involved in family activities. Chi says that such changes are part of an irreversible trend. Instead of trying to maintain the traditional family structure, she says, society should focus on maintaining important family values, such as respect, love and compassion. "It is essential for children to learn how to trust, how to handle a conflict and how to make a reconciliation," Chi says. "Education about gender equality is really education about human rights. The key is respect."

Write to Audrey Wang at awang@mail.gio.gov.tw