Taiwan battles low birth rate with new family subsidies

Families in Taiwan will receive cash incentives for newborns and fertility treatment.

Taiwan has announced that it is fighting back against low population growth with a new subsidy programme to encourage families to have more children.

Taiwan’s cabinet on Thursday approved standardised cash payouts to families for each newborn and the coverage of a larger proportion of infertility treatment costs, Focus Taiwan reported.

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Under the new plan, families will receive $3,320 per newborn, Taiwan News reported, with twins qualifying for a payment of nearly $7,000. The previous system included payouts that ranged from $1,300 to $2,300 per baby, depending on the mother’s employment status.

Taiwan became a “super-aged society” in 2025, meaning that more than 20 percent of its population is aged 65 or older. The island nation has one of the lowest birth rates in the world, CNN reported last year, with its total birth rate in 2022 hitting just .087.

Countries need to maintain a total fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman to hit what the French Institute for Demographic Studies calls “replacement level,” meaning the number of children a couple must have to replace themselves in the population.

Taiwan saw its ninth consecutive year of declining birth rates in 2024, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior.

The country’s benefits will also extend to couples facing infertility. Women aged 39 and under will reportedly be eligible to receive subsidies for up to six attempts at in vitro fertilization (IVF). Women between the ages of 39 and 45 will receive subsidies for their first three attempts.

Low-and middle-income households will be eligible to receive nearly $5,000 per attempt at IVF.

Minister without Portfolio Chen Shih-chung told Taiwan News the recently announced subsidies are expected to help more than 120,000 families.

Other countries in the region have experimented with the type of programme Taiwan is looking to implement. Parents in Hong Kong receive over $2,500 for each newborn, and parents in South Korea can receive over $2,200 once they’ve had two or more children, CNN reported.

Taiwan’s policy changes are expected to go into effect in January 2026.