The Institutional Context of Non-marital Births in Taiwan

• Main Authors: Shao-ching Wu, 吳少卿
• Other Authors: Chang-Li Yang
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2015
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/45445910231494950841

碩士 === 國立中山大學 === 社會學系碩士班 === 103 === Recently, getting married for unplanned pregnancy seems common in Taiwan. On the one hand, it reduces premarital pregnancy stigma; on the other hand, giving birth out of wedlock still doesn’t work. The percentage of giving birth out of wedlock in lots of developed countries is similar with the rate of getting married for unplanned pregnancy in Taiwan. Isn’t non-marital birth a practical option in Taiwan? The institutional context of non-marital births is the core of the paper. The authors use data from the 1992、1998、2004 KAP （Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Contraception） and Department of Household Registration to analyze the behavior of marriage and childbirth in Taiwan. We distinguish the marriage and childbirth course into three approaches: getting pregnant after marriage, getting married for unplanned pregnancy, and giving birth out of wedlock. Our findings indicate that getting married for unplanned pregnancy aged 25-29 is 42.44% in 2004. The group of getting pregnant after marriage prefer to late marriage and late childbirth since 21st Century. Until now, the rate of marital births is more than ninety percent. For analyzing institutional context of non-marital births in Taiwan, the law institution, social policy, and the social values are the field to examine. We also adopt data of Taiwan Social Change Survey to analyze whether the attitude of marriage and childbearing exists differences between generations. Our findings indicate that law and social policy have no discriminatory towards non-marital births. However, cohabiting couples lacks legal protection. Overall, the childbearing support from social policy is not enough. Especially, double-income families are mainstream nowadays. That is to say the resources of original family are vital for “Taiwanese Life Events”. Even though the genre of rearing children are similar between single-parent families and giving birth out of wedlock, the former have wider acceptance among the elder. 53.16% to 18.6%. In our viewpoint, rather than individualism, familism is center of obstetrical events in Taiwan. Probably, the Second Demographic Transition can’t fully explain “Taiwanese Life Events”. To elevate gender equality in family field is priority.