TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) promoted planned welfare and wage measures during a temple visit in Chiayi City on Sunday, saying stronger tax revenue should reach ordinary households.
Families would receive NT$5,000 (US$166) a month for each child from birth through age 18 starting next January, giving a child up to NT$1.08 million by adulthood if payments continue through the full period, per CNA.
Lai said parents could set aside part of the allowance for college or future business plans. He also said the government would raise the old-age farmers’ allowance to NT$10,000 a month and provide NT$5,000 monthly to uninsured people enrolled in the national pension system.
The president tied the proposals to broader claims about wages and taxes. He said the basic wage has climbed each year over the past decade to NT$29,500, and another adjustment this year would push it past NT$30,000. He noted that 40% to 50% of Taiwanese now pay no income tax.
Lai also rejected criticism that the DPP pays little attention to military personnel, civil servants, and public school teachers. He said their pay had been raised four times under his and former President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administrations, compared with once under former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
