DGBAS releases labor utilization survey

2015-01-06

Labor participation rates for women and young and middle-aged groups in Taiwan continued to rise in 2014, according to the latest human resources survey released by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.

The country’s overall labor force participation rate was 58.39 percent, up 0.14 of a percentage point from a year ago, with the figures for males and females at 66.62 percent and 50.5 percent, respectively.

In particular, 60.48 percent of single women in Taiwan were either employed or actively looking for work, with the percentage for women with spouses 49.76. Further analysis shows that married women without children reported the highest figure at 70.42 percent.

“Over the past 20 years, the labor participation rate for women gained 5.44 percentage points, while the figure for males dropped 5.49 percentage points,” a DGBAS official said, attributing the change to improving education for women and the country’s expanding services sector.

In terms of age distribution, those 25-44 reported the highest participation rate at 86.74 percent, up from 86.6 percent in 2013. This figure rose 8.46 percentage points from two decades ago.

Among Taiwan’s potential labor force of 5.76 million, 43.13 percent cited returning home as the major reason for not being in the job market, followed by academic pursuits or preparing for advanced study at 36.87 percent.

A new trend highlighted in the study is that between 2010 and 2014, the number of men who quit their jobs to become homemakers more than doubled from 21,879 to 48,707. “This development can be attributed to the enhanced awareness of gender equality and public and private sector efforts in making the local job market more gender friendly,” the official said.

On average, the primary income for full-time workers was NT$36,885 (US$1,163) per month, with 37.76 percent of those surveyed making less than NT$30,000 and 18.07 percent over NT$50,000. The average income for men was NT$39,781, 18.73 percent higher than NT$33,505 for women.

A total of 766,000, or 6.93 percent of those employed, were part-time or temporary workers earning NT$14,691 on average, with 79.32 percent of these making less than NT$20,000 a month.

Launched in 1978 as key reference for the government’s human resources policymaking, the DGBAS poll is conducted every May and covers a wide range of labor-related issues such as job opportunities, labor force utilization, unemployment and wages.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=225889&CtNode=413)