SOCIOECONOMICS:Social welfare benefits are not a guaranteed solution, as young people have complained about soaring housing prices and a lack of well-paying jobs
Taipei Times
Date: Oct 07, 2017
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter
The National Development Council (NDC) has added raising the fertility rate to its list
National Development Council Minister Chen Mei-ling speaks at a news conference in Taipei on Sep. 26. Photo: Chen Mei-ing, Taipei Times
of priorities as the nation’s population continues to age rapidly due to the declining number of births, NDC Minister Chen Mei-ling (陳美伶) said yesterday.
The nation’s top economic policy planner and executor has received the Cabinet’s approval to merge two task forces in charge of the low birth rate and talent recruitment into an upgraded panel that Premier William Lai (賴清德) is to head, she said.
“The council is to approach the matter from a broad perspective encompassing economic, industrial and talent recruitment policies, rather than focus on the introduction of welfare benefits as in the past,” Chen told a news conference.
The gravity of the issue warrants the escalated attention, as the demographic trend could evolve into serious social and economic problems, she said. [FULL STORY]
