Taiwan's policies for working mothers, with Professor Grace Huang

The Strait Up Podcast

Most people are probably aware that Taiwan has an aging population. In fact, Taiwan has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. According to the National Development Council, Taiwan’s fertility rate in 2022 was 0.87. That makes it either the lowest or nearly lowest in the entire world, with similar rates to South Korea, Hong Kong, and Puerto Rico. Thus, one can see how government policies that support working children are also tied to Taiwan’s fertility rates.

Today I have on the show Grace Huang. Grace is a professor at St. Lawrence University in New York. She is currently a Fullbright Scholar conducting research for a book project that will compare the policies for working mothers in three countries: the United States, Taiwan, and Spain. Her research includes conducting interviews with 25 working mothers in each country, and her work in Taiwan is the main focus of our conversation.

Grace is also the author of the book “Chiang Kai-shek’s Politics of Shame” published in 2021. And you can check out her blog discussing her research, "Field Notes of a Working Mother".

In this interview, we cover a large number of topics related to working mothers in Taiwan, including Taiwan’s current policies and those being proposed by Taiwan’s presidential candidates, the impact of Taiwanese culture on raising children and working, and many other topics. Just a quick note, this episode was recorded before Taiwan’s presidential election on January 13th.