|
Groups seek
‘mom-friendliness’
‘GOOD AND SAFE’: Women will think twice about
having children if they have to worry about them growing up in an environment
that is not safe, a legislator said
By Loa Iok-sin / Staff Reporter
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) and representatives
from several women’s groups yesterday said a “mother-friendly” environment
should be created for women so that they would not have to worry about having
children.
“The state is responsible for giving women a good and safe environment so they
can feel safe bringing a new life into this world,” Huang told a press
conference at the legislature. “This is the best Mother’s Day gift that the
government can give to mothers in Taiwan.”
Women often suffer during pregnancy and risk their lives when giving birth to a
child, Huang said, adding that when a child is born, it represents a heavy
economic burden to the family.
“Women will think twice about having babies if they have so much to worry
about,” Huang said.
Taiwan Women’s Link -secretary-general Tsai Wan-fen (蔡宛芬) said many women had to
give up their career because of the high costs of babysitting.
“Moreover, though the law allows mothers to take paid maternity leave, employers
often ‘hint’ that such leave should not be taken, or even give bad employee
evaluations to those who want to take maternity leave,” Tsai said.
Taipei Association for the Promotion of Women’s Rights -secretary-general Kao
Pei-chin (高珮瑾) said she was concerned about the fate of unmarried mothers.
While it is already difficult for a married woman with a newborn to keep her job
while taking care of a child, the situation can be worse for unmarried women.
“According to the Act for Assisting Families in Special Situations [特殊境遇家庭扶助條例],
an unmarried woman with a child is only entitled to a total of between NT$40,000
and NT$50,000 in support over a three-month period if she quits her job,” Kao
said. “This is barely enough to support herself.”
Instead of giving out a NT$1 million cash award for creating a slogan to
increase childbirth, “the government should come up with some actual policies
and actions to help mothers in this country,” Huang said.
Some of the ideas proposed by Huang and the groups included establishing more
public childcare centers, creating childbirth-risk pensions and allowing mothers
to collect payments from the national pension plan.
The Ministry of the Interior’s Social Affairs Department Deputy Director Chen
Su-chun (陳素春) said the government would look into the suggestions, but added
that it was unlikely the ministry would allow mothers to draw a childbirth
stipend from the national pension program.
“The idea behind the current national pension program is to give those who are
unemployed better protection in their old age,” Chen said. “Right now, we don’t
have a plan to change this.”
|
