57% of married women were working in 2016: survey

Taipei--More than 57 percent of working-age, married women in 2016 were employed, according to a government survey released Thursday.

Last year, a total of 2.96 million married women aged 15 to 64 were working, the survey conducted by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics shows.

Of this figure, 1.57 million people, or 53.09 percent, had been working since they were single, while 520,000 and 384,000 people, accounting for 17.56 percent and 12.95 percent respectively, had suspended their career for marriage and childbirth at some point, the survey reveals.

There were 2.21 million, or 42.76 percent, married women who were not working, according to the survey.

Of these people, 644,000, or 29.11 percent, had left their jobs since getting married, while 404,000, or 18.26 percent, had not been working since quitting their jobs for childbirth, the survey shows.

It also found that 1.32 million, or 29.92 percent, of women aged 15 to 64 had left their jobs for marriage at some point, and only 673,000, or 51.1 percent, returned to the workplace some time later.

A total of 794,000 people, or 24.99 percent, left their jobs at the first childbirth. Only 505,000 people, or 55.57 percent, of women who had quitted for childbirth later returned to the workplace, according to the survey.

In Taiwan, a male has to be 18 years old to be legally married and a female needs to be 16 but cases of under-age marriage exist, mainly in rural areas.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel