Source： Taiwan Today
By Kwangyin Liu
The number of children born in Taiwan is expected to rise significantly this year, largely as a result of ROC government stimulus measures, according to the Ministry of the Interior April 5.

A total of 32,796 newborns were recorded in the first two months of 2012, up 21.6 percent, or 5,823 children, compared to the same period last year, according to the MOI.

The MOI said the increase is closely tied up with the series of campaigns introduced in the past few years to encourage childbearing, such as subsidies to families with small children, educational stipends, matchmaking activities and efforts to change popular thinking on late marriage and childbirth.

Folk customs are also a factor in the prediction that the number of newborns will increase markedly this year, the MOI noted, as this is the Year of the Dragon, an auspicious year to have children.

For the past decade, Taiwan has seen a steady decline in the number of newborn children, from 305,000 in 2000 to 166,886 in 2010.

While Taiwan’s total fertility rate, the average number of births per woman, hit an all-time low of 0.895 in 2010, last year saw a slight increase to 1.07 with 196,627 newborns, according to the MOI. (THN)

Write to Kwangyin Liu at kwangyin.liu@mail.gio.gov.tw