The League of Taipei Social Welfare (LTSF) released a policy paper on Thursday calling for increases in the city budget for child and adolescent care. The northern LTSF chapter held a press conference on Thursday morning to review the progress made by the city government over the past year.
LTSF Chairman Kao Cheng-chi (高正吉) says that the government focuses too much on taking care of the elderly and neglects policies for children. The LTSF’s previous paper focused on children, teenagers, women, the elderly, and people with disabilities, proposing strategies to ease the difficulties of working on the front line. Kao adds that because Taiwan’s society is aging, the central government has invested more resources in promoting long-term care, but the youth are Taiwan’s future.
According to Kao, improving child policies will help people have children with peace of mind which may help alleviate the problem of Taiwan’s low birthrate. He also says that strengthening employment security and career development for young people is vital.
Jing Chuan Child Safety Foundation CEO Lin Yueh Chin (林月琴) emphasizes that the child and adolescent budget should be increased to at least 10% from the previous 8%. She also mentions that 40% of young people do not know about labor and health insurance when entering the workforce and do not seek help when their rights are violated. Lin says that juvenile protection policies have not been revised for 12 years, and this is work that must be done soon in the future.