FOCUS ON FETUS:The proposed amendment said it aims to make pregnant women the focus of accompanying maternity leave, instead of marriage being the key criterium

Taipei Times
Date: May 09, 2016
By: Stacy Hsu / Staff reporter

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday announced plans to amend the Act of Gender Equality in Employment (性別工作平等法) to extend the statutory five-day accompanying maternity leave to the partners of expectant unwed women.

According to DPP Legislator Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬), who drew up the proposed amendment to Article 15 of the act along with DPP lawmakers Tsai Shih-ying (蔡適應) and Lu Sun-ling (呂孫綾), about 8,000 single women fall pregnant each year in Taiwan, accounting for about 4 percent to 5 percent of all pregnancies.

“If the current trend in Europe is any indication, the number of unwed mothers in Taiwan is likely to rise,” Cheng said on Facebook yesterday, which was Mother’s Day.

Cheng said the nation’s fertility policy has long been out of sync with reality and only factors in children born in wedlock, making accompanying maternity leave unattainable for single mothers who are more socially disadvantaged.     [FULL  STORY]