Taiwan battles low birth rate with new family subsidies

Taiwan has announced that a new subsidy program will help families with growing population by promoting family growth.

According to Focus Taiwan, Taiwan’s cabinet approved standardized cash payments for families for each newborn and the payment of a larger portion of infertility treatment costs.

According to Taiwan News, families will receive $3, 320 per newborn under the new plan, with twins receiving nearly $7, 000. Depending on the mother’s employment status, the previous system offered payouts ranging from $1,300 to $2,300 per baby.

More than 20% of Taiwan’s population is 65 or older, making Taiwan a “super-aged society” in 2025. According to CNN last year, the island nation had one of the lowest birth rates overall in 2022, which was just.087.

To reach the “replacement level,” or “replacement level,” a nation must have a total fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman in order for a couple to have enough children to replace themselves in the population.

According to Taiwan’s Ministry of Interior, birth rates fell for the ninth year in a row in 2024.

Couples experiencing infertility will also benefit from the country’s advantages. Approximately 39-year-old women will be eligible for subsidies for up to six in-vitro fertilization (IVF) attempts. For their first three attempts, women between the ages of 39 and 45 will receive subsidies.

Nearly $5, 000 will be awarded to low- and middle-income households for each IVF attempt.

More than 120, 000 families are expected to receive subsidies, according to Minister without Portfolio Chen Shih-chung, according to Taiwan News.

Taiwan is attempting to implement the kind of program that other nations in the area have tried. According to CNN, parents in South Korea can receive more than $ 2,200 for each newborn, while parents in Hong Kong can receive more than $ 2,500 for each child.