Overview
In 2023, Bible Society Taiwan will partner with World Day of Prayer to promote the wellbeing of brides immigrating to Taiwan, and their families. The team plans to engage with these families directly, helping them assimilate and extending to them God’s offer of reconciliation in Christ. They will also act as a positive influence within the cultural and economic challenges of Taiwan.
The cultural and economic context of Taiwan forms the backdrop for this project, and the challenges faced by immigrants. This context relates to Taiwan’s low fertility rate, estimated as the world’s lowest. By 2010, the fertility rate had fallen below one child per woman and has been declared a national crisis. The National Development Council forecasts that Taiwan will become ‘superaged’ in 2025, threatening national living standards, employment, retirement income, economic health and military vulnerability. Yet, low-income growth relative to property prices has increased the real cost of having children. Pregnancy discrimination further discourages childbirth, with maternity leave sometimes leading to demotion, pay cuts or even job loss.
As a result, in the last 30 years, hundreds of thousands of brides have immigrated from China and Southeast Asia and have borne children. Yet in Taiwan they face many challenges, both economic, cultural and personal.
These families face language barriers and cultural differences as citizens of a new community. The women also face marital inequality, parenting issues, lack of education in marriage law, conflict with spouses and in-laws and a resulting high risk of domestic violence.
The Bible has much to offer women and families facing these challenges, especially its teaching on the hope of the Gospel, the goodness and fruitfulness of love and the joy of having children.
If the appeal is oversubscribed or the project changes due to unforeseen reasons, we will reallocate remaining funds to similar projects.
