MOL to expand childcare subsidy scheme to encourage employer support

Taipei, March 4 (CNA) Taiwan's Ministry of Labor (MOL) on Wednesday announced an expanded subsidy scheme aimed at encouraging businesses to provide more childcare support to employees, including higher subsidies for employer-provided childcare allowances, with foreign employees also eligible.

"We have looked at the results of employer-provided childcare efforts so far and believe they have indeed been insufficient," Labor Minister Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) said at a press conference in Taipei.

Hung said many business owners understand Taiwan's low birthrate problem and are willing to help employees with childcare, "but they still face significant difficulties in terms of institutional support and resources."

In view of those challenges, Hung said, the MOL will introduce a total of nine new or expanded subsidy measures building on existing policies in the hope that more businesses will take that "extra step to support employees."

Currently, only employers with 100 or more employees are legally required to provide breastfeeding rooms and either "childcare facilities or suitable childcare measures," while childcare allowances are not mandatory.

Among the changes set to take effect on May 1, the ministry will raise subsidies for employers that provide childcare allowances to employees to up to NT$10,000 (US$316.11) per employee per year, with subsidy rates ranging from 50-70 percent depending on the size of the company.

The childcare allowance applies to employees with children from newborns to age 12, according to the ministry.

Under the current system, the MOL subsidizes 50 percent of the annual allowance paid by employers for each employee's child if the amount is below NT$8,000, while allowances of NT$8,000 or more qualify for a maximum subsidy of NT$4,000.

Another expansion is the removal of the requirement that employees' children be enrolled in childcare institutions for employers to qualify for subsidies, meaning workers who rely on care provided by family members or babysitters will also be covered under the new scheme.

Along with other measures, including subsidies for employer-run childcare facilities, the ministry said the expanded scheme will have a total budget of NT$142.4 million in 2026, rising to a projected NT$213.41 million in 2027, with the subsidies to be financed by the Employment Insurance Fund.

Hung said Taiwan-based foreign companies and foreign nationals working in Taiwan are also covered by the expanded scheme, adding that migrant blue-collar workers are likewise "not excluded."

Huang Wei-chen (黃維琛), director of the MOL's Department of Employment Welfare and Retirement, told CNA that there is "no differential treatment" in how the scheme is applied to employees of different nationalities.

"If a company offers the same benefit to all employees, including migrant workers, we will handle its subsidy application on the same basis," Huang said.