Promoting Equality: Parents Taking Full 6-Month Parental Leave to Each Receive Extra Month of Allowance

Central News Agency (Taipei, May 7) – Premier Cho Jung-tai stated today that to encourage people of all genders to participate in family care, the government is actively amending laws to allow parents who have completed six months of parental leave allowance to each claim an additional month of allowance. With Mother''s Day approaching, Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee relayed during a post-meeting press conference that Cho noted in the meeting that maternal love takes many forms. This includes mothers, fathers acting as mothers, grandparents providing intergenerational care, foster parents, and nannies. He expressed respect and gratitude to all those performing maternal roles, stating that their resilience and hard work bring warmth and stability to society and families. Cho said that to help citizens balance family and work, the government is creating a gender-friendly workplace. Measures include allowing parental leave to be applied for on a daily basis and family care leave on an hourly basis, providing more flexibility for working caregivers. Simultaneously, to encourage all genders to invest in their families, Cho said the government is actively amending laws so that after both parents have claimed six months of parental leave allowance, they can each claim one additional month. The goal is for all genders to share family care responsibilities. The government will continue to promote gender equality values and policies to ensure a gender-friendly environment is truly implemented in society, allowing the power of maternal love to reach every corner. Cho stated that to build a more complete family support system, the 10-Year Long-term Care Plan 3.0 has been launched. New policies relax requirements for respite services and enhance capacity for nighttime and emergency care, aiming to reduce pressure on caregivers. Under current parental leave allowance regulations, for each child, parents can each claim up to six months of allowance. This is calculated as 60% of the average monthly insured salary from the six months prior to the leave, plus an additional 20% government subsidy, totaling 80% of the salary. (Editor: Lin Shu-yuan) 2026/05/07