Premier encourages having kids

NOW KISS: The premier made the remarks while serving as a witness to a mass wedding at the Grand Hotel, where many Chunghwa Telecom staff married

Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday encouraged newlyweds to have children while attending a mass wedding held by Chunghwa Telecom in Taipei, where 72 couples were married.

Cho, who served as a witness at the ceremony at the Grand Hotel, thanked the newlyweds for taking a step that could help Taiwan “address its demographic challenges,” referring to the country’s low birthrate.

Ministry of the Interior data showed that Taiwan’s fertility rate fell to 0.695 last year — one of the lowest in the world — while the number of births dropped for a 10th consecutive year to a record-low 107,812.

Couples take part in a mass wedding ceremony held by Chunghwa Telecom in Taipei yesterday.

Photo: CNA

While encouraging the couples to have children, Cho added that childbirth remains a personal choice.

“Marriage is everyone’s right, and having children is everyone’s choice. It is definitely not a responsibility or obligation,” he said.

Cho urged couples planning to start families to use government support, highlighting plans for a NT$5,000 monthly child-rearing allowance starting next year, expanded childcare services and measures aimed at easing housing and education costs.

Cho said he hoped state-owned enterprises would organize more large-scale mass weddings, adding that Taiwan Power Co is planning to hold one as well.

At least one person in each of the 72 newlywed couples works for Chunghwa Telecom, and in five cases, both spouses were employees of Taiwan’s largest telecom.

Chunghwa Telecom chairman Alex Chien (簡志誠) said the company began holding mass weddings in 1963 and has held them almost every year since, with about 800 couples taking part since 2010.

Chien said he hoped the couples would “have children soon.”

He highlighted company measures to support employees starting families, including an NT$80,000 childbirth subsidy, a seven-hour workday with eight hours’ pay for employees with children younger than six, and 18 workplace childcare facilities nationwide.

Among the newlyweds was 44-year-old senior engineer Lin Kuan-nan (林冠男), who said he and his wife plan to have a child.

A 19-year Chunghwa Telecom employee, Lin said the planned NT$5,000 monthly allowance had “some appeal,” but added that the amount would “definitely not be enough” amid rising living costs.

“Of course, the more the better,” he said, adding that he hoped the government could provide additional subsidies.

Dino Chen, a senior engineer who has worked at Chunghwa Telecom for five years, said he and his wife plan to have a child in a year or two, but added that while the government’s available support showed “sincerity,” it remained insufficient.

“Once you take on a mortgage, you might have to pay NT$20,000 to NT$30,000 a month,” the 30-year-old said, identifying housing as their “main” concern.

While Chen said that “there is definitely pressure,” he said his wife works too and that they share the mortgage payments, easing the financial burden.