Record number of fathers apply for parental leave in 2022: Report
Taipei, Jan. 29 (CNA) The percentage of new fathers who applied for parental leave reached a new high in 2022, according to an annual report published Monday by the Executive Yuan's Gender Equality Committee (GEC).
The number of married parents who took parental leave that year totaled 99,500, of which 25,100, or 25.2 percent, were male spouses, the GEC's 2024 report on gender showed.
That percentage was a sharp increase from 19.1 percent in 2021 and 18.2 percent in 2020.
The increase came after the government in July 2021 raised the parental leave allowance for working parents with children under the age of three from 60 percent to 80 percent of their insured salary for up to six months, the GEC said.
The increase was part of an amendment to the Employment Insurance Act, which the Cabinet said was aimed at promoting gender-friendly workplaces and encouraging men to share housework with their wives.
The amendment also included allowing parents the option of taking parental leave a month or more at a time, instead of applying for one six-month block. In addition, both parents are now entitled to claim a parental leave allowance at the same time if they are both covered by employment insurance.
In the report, the GEC mentioned that for the first time, Taiwan was evaluated in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) Social Institutions and Gender Index.
According to the OECD, the committee said, in 2023 Taiwan was ranked first in Asia and sixth globally among 179 countries, earning a score of 9.2 out of 100, with zero indicating no gender discrimination and 100 indicating absolute discrimination.
Regarding political participation, the number of women in the legislature following the Jan. 13 elections dropped slightly to 41.6 percent, down from 42.5 percent after a 2022 legislative by-election, the GEC's gender report showed.
From May 2019, when Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage, through the end of 2023, the number of people registering such unions reached 25,716, of which 7,748 were men and 17,968 were women, the report said.
Meanwhile, more than 90 percent of sexual harassment complaints were made by women last year, while 24 percent of all such incidents happened online, the report showed.
The full report, titled the 2024 Gender at a Glance in the Republic of China (Taiwan), is available on the GEC website.
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