1.18 child(ren)

Apparently, Taiwan is thinking about boosting its flagging birthrate by giving couples a $3000NT (approx. $100U.S.) per month bonus for third and subsequent children under the age of twenty. Don't bother clicking though that link if you don't read Chinese. Heh. Most of you will have to take my word it.

I'm all about giving parents more of a square deal in a time of increasing parental obligations coinciding with lowered expectations for recipriocation from kids, and the amount is a drop in the bucket anyhow. Initially I questioned the wisdom of encouraging procreation in an island nation which is straining hard against natural space and resource limits already, but reading the article revealed that birth rates in Taiwan has plunged precipitously to 1.18 per woman, when 2.1 is reckoned to be the replacement rate. Population contraction is set to start at 2022. I can see why the government is worried.