Written by Elspeth Lewis.
Image credit: IMG_9696 by Jerry Lai/ Flickr, license: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Taiwan has the lowest birthrate in the world. At just 1.11 children per couple, according to The World Factbook, the island is well below the replacement value of 2.1, risking an ageing population and a shrunken workforce. This problem has worsened year on year, despite the most recent Dragon Year in 2024, which historically pointed to a surge of births due to the auspicious nature of the Chinese zodiac. This situation is, however, not unique to just Taiwan or even Asia. In fact, it lies on the global trend of plummeting birthrates, ageing populations and smaller, overworked workforces. Earlier this year, we travelled to Taiwan to meet with seven Taiwanese women from across the island to gain their perspectives on dating, marriage and sex through semi-structured interviews.
But why care about Taiwan in particular if almost every country (developed or developing) is struggling with its birthrate? Taiwan is often overlooked on the global scale due to its lack of UN recognition, but it can offer a unique insight into a ubiquitous problem: a small, recently democratised island with a developing economy and an uncertain future. However, it is not just academics who care about Taiwan’s birthrate dilemma. Naturally, the issue of birthrate is salient in politics, with many Taiwanese politicians simply “throwing money” at the problem rather than finding a workable solution. Furthermore, most other research in this area is dated and focuses on the contexts of the dropping birthrate. This research instead aims to put women at its centre, making them active voices in the data that influences the policy making that affects them, rather than relegating them to the passive subject where the contexts are the active participants and policy is enacted without looking qualitatively.
Through this new approach to the problem, a new trend was set – what we previously thought we knew has changed. The views and data we previously held are now in line with the average middle-aged woman in Taiwan: one who grew up under martial law, whose parents were perhaps from China and when the Family Planning Initiative was well underway. Now, we see a paradigm split between the younger generation (18-30) and their parents. From traditions to one-night stands, their perceptions differ immensely, leading to a polarisation between generations and upending of previously established dating cultures. Through these changes accomplished by the younger generation, a slow change in social thought is starting to take place, where sex is slowly becoming less taboo, education is becoming better, and women are becoming active participants in their romantic partnerships. In turn, as these more liberal women become role models in the community or have their own children, their own, more open views become the norm, further creating a more liberal society towards the ideas of sex and relationships.
Differences: internal and external
But what is actually changing beyond the (very vague) idea of becoming more liberal? And how do these women see their impact? Interviews spanned topics across marriage, dating, sex and children, with interviewees having a range of responses differing both from each other and the existing literature. Through exploring this difference between the younger generation and their parents, the shifts in social thought become clear, and their impacts are starting to materialise.
For these differences to be apparent, we can first look at the phrase “Taiwanese women are too traditional.” Perhaps the most prolific stereotype, pushed by European and Asian media alike, this label amounts to the purported religiousness and spirituality of Taiwanese society. Whilst this view is semi-based in the orientalism of Taiwan through a media lens (see: any martial arts film), many academics also argue Confucianism as a main reason for the falling birth rate, with some even calling it a “cultural bedrock”. This generalisation, however, is based on the older generation, who tend to be more religious than their children. Taiwan’s religious demographic, similar to its birth rate, is slowly dropping, leaving Chinese Folk Religion (the largest proportion of the religious demographic at 27.9% of the population) at risk of being smaller than the No Religion demographic. It comes as no surprise, then, that Taiwan’s youth do not feel as constricted by religion as their parents or grandparents were, especially in terms of dating norms. This, in turn, begins to affect society, once prevalent social norms of marrying and having children, as stated by Wu, have less sway on the younger generation, allowing them to carve out their own paths separate from those that which was followed by their predecessors.
Traditional Parents
Many interviewees also pointed out that they had “traditional Asian parents” or how they were more “open-minded” than their older family members. Therefore, the younger generation are not only more liberal in the way they see the world, as shown by their actions but also see themselves as less traditional than their parents. Interviewee U, a research assistant at a university, noted the tensions between her and her parents due to these differing ideas. Her mother insists she should marry someone rich who can pay for an entire meal instead of going 50-50, and who refuses to allow her to learn about sex or have a partner until she goes to university. Interviewee U refers to this dating culture of a man having to pay for everything as “kind of toxic.” Her relationship with her father also deteriorated due to this dating norm when he “asked [her] to have a boyfriend” at university because “he was just afraid that nobody would want to have a relationship with [her]”. This disjunct thought pattern led to arguments and an eventual hatred between the family, with Interviewee U stating that she eventually married her husband to escape her own family commitments and that she hoped “that [her] parents die.” Reshaping her relationship with tradition and the dating norms her parents had imposed was a challenging and often painful process, but it became the catalyst for an entirely new perspective.
Traditional Society
But it is not just the parents of the younger generation who do not condone these newly created ideas surrounding dating, sex and relationships. Traditions, made up by the prevalence of religion, Confucianism and practised customs, however, still affect those who don’t subscribe to them. Interviewee D, a teacher in North Taiwan, mentioned how her life was run by societal expectations perpetrated by these ingrained traditions, from her having to move into her now ex-husband’s house to her current issues dating as a single mother in a small town. She notes how she must have a “positive image: happy family, professional knowledge” in order to continue with her work and remain in the community. Not only is this image beneficial for her continued work as a teacher, but also in meeting potential partners. Interviewee D chooses not to use online dating apps and, therefore, instead relies on being introduced to partners by her parents’ connections within the community. This reliance on social standing in a society where the circumstances mean you do not fit creates a disconnect between D’s wants and her needs. Whilst the younger generation no longer holds the same traditions as their parents, their lives are still somewhat affected by the inherent need to follow the cultural norm in order to be accepted into the community. As these cultural norms become less and less important, though, through the changing views of the younger generation, a new liberalism will be able to commence, with no barriers.
Concluding Remarks
Compared to their parents, the younger generation holds much more liberal views, allowing them to act separately from the social norms that are prevalent in Taiwanese society. That being said, moving away from these norms and traditions is not unproblematic: problems such as social ostracism and familial tensions come with the territory. The tightrope balance between fitting in and being happy is a risk many have considered, but only when enough people take it can society truly become liberal enough to accept its new state of normality.
Elspeth Lewis is currently studying for a Master’s in Taiwan Studies at SOAS, University of London. Her research focuses on gender politics in Taiwan, with an interest in heterosexual women’s position in modern society.
This article was published as part of a special issue on ‘SOAS Taiwan Studies Summer School 2025‘.