Taiwan's birth rate sinks on fears of 'rebellious' Tiger Children

By Jens Kastner Jul 29, 2010, 9:53 GMT

Taipei - No other country in the world has a lower birth rate than Taiwan. During the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese calendar the birth rate tends to fall even further because 'Tiger Kids' as regarded as being defiant. Their careers also tend to suffer as many Taiwanese managers check the horoscopes of job applicants.

The antenatal care departments of Taiwan's hospitals are experiencing a lull at the moment. The reason is that 2010 is regarded by many traditional Taiwanese as a bad year for giving birth. According to the Chinese calendar, this year is the Year of the Tiger and children who are born in 2010 will have an insubordinate character. That is more bad news for the island's demography.

Taiwan's interior ministry has appealed to citizens to ignore fortune tellers, however, most couples are not listening. A bad horoscope can be a burden for life because the managers of Taiwan's personnel departments often take them into consideration along with aptitude tests and exam results when hiring new employees.

'Many Taiwanese companies hire fortune tellers who check the horoscopes of potential employees,' says Charlene Chang, spokeswoman for the 1111 Job Bank employment agency. 'Bosses are eager to know who they can look upon as a friend or an enemy within the company.' People born in the Year of the Tiger are not only regarded as being defiant, according to folklore, they can also bring bad luck.

The traditional Chinese calendar is divided into a 12 year cycle of animals. Children born in the years of the rat, snake or ox are regarded as having the characteristics of those animals. A child born in the Year of the Rat, for example, is thought to be especially good at reacting to problems, which can be useful in the world of high finance.

However, parents are less enthusiastic about jobs that are regarded as being good for Tiger Children: sea captains, travel agents, drivers, reporters or photo models. Tiger Children are also thought to be unsuitable for performing the job of best man at a wedding because the marriage would then be overshadowed by bad luck from the start.

According to statistics published by the Taiwanese Interior Ministry, 57,088 babies were born on the island in the first four months of this year. That figure is 5,000 less than during the same period the previous year. In 2009 Taiwan had the world's lowest birth rate with 8.29 new babies per 1,000 people. The country fears today's demographic trends will lead to big problems in the education and health systems in the future.

The government has reacted by launching funding programmes to encourage couples to have more kids. From next year parents will receive the equivalent of 650 dollars for every child they have. A prize of 25,000 dollars is also on offer to anyone who can come up with a slogan that will motivate the Taiwanese to have more children.

Along with the year of birth Chang says there is another important factor that can affect employment opportunities: 'Personnel department heads check how many strokes are used to make up the Chinese character in a person's name. They think they can tell if the candidate is suitable or not judging by the number of lines in the name.'