少子化浪潮下大台北地區不願生育女性觀念之研究

Abstract

本文起源因關心到台灣社會面臨低生育率少子化的現象，進而探討女性不願意生育的可能原因。研究過程視生育行為乃經女性理性選擇後的行為，並援用Gary S. Becker的生育理論將生育成本分作兩大類，即直接、間接成本，以之作為無意願生育成因的分類範疇，以及基本研究架構。本研究採取文獻分析的策略並結合深度訪談法進行，一方面利用文獻資料解析影響生育的時代背景環境，包括全球化、新經濟時代的影響，以及台灣目前有關生育問題的相關社會背景環境等，並歸納出相關生育所需擔負的成本與代價，作為深度訪談焦點核心基礎。次之，本文深度訪問大台北地區中15位無意願生育的女性，深入了解所持之概念與態度，歸結出這群女性不願意生育的底層原因所在。 研究結果發現，女性不願意生育之原因，在「直接成本」方面反應出以下困擾：（一）經濟穩定維持不易、實質薪資減少造成養育負擔沈重（二）養育子女經濟成本過高（三）政府在養育成本的補助或配套措施不足（四）養兒防老觀念已不在。在「間接成本」觀念方面反應出這群女性：（一）實現自我人生的概念增強（二）工作與母職的兩難問題（三）母職與生育觀念的改變（四）視心力與精神的付出為機會成本。研究結果也顯示這群女性不願意生育的主要成因為「間接成本」代價的犧牲，但直接成本的「經濟問題」卻也成為生育之主要阻力。顯示「直接成本」與「間接成本」在生育成本當中有著相互牽連的關係，對這些女性而言直接成本與間接成本是交集在一起、皆影響她們的生育選擇，而分單一選項、非此及彼的問題，只是依照個人面臨的環境情況不同而放置的比重有所不同。由結果得出30歲以下或未婚的受訪群組較多比例注重直接成本代價，已婚或30歲以下群組較多比例在意直接成本問題。然而無論主要是因直接成本或間接成本考量而不願意生育，都表現她們對於所處環境與狀態中，無法作安心生育的選擇，在訪談過程中，她們也表示出台灣的在生育方面的環境上缺乏吸引力。 經濟上的問題、女性重視自我實現的意識增高、生育支援環境上不足的皆是影響這群女性不願意生育的主要原因。若在生育支援環境缺乏的情況之下，女性因生育將付出的直接成本、間接成本的高低將影響其生育的意願。

Due to the very low fertility and rapidly declining fertility rate in recent Taiwan, this study discusses how come some women wouldn’t like to have children in Taiwan. The report takes having children as a rational choice that made by the woman, and the choice is related to the cost of rearing children. It divides the reasons that women wouldn’t have children in to two parts, direct costs and opportunity costs according to Gary S. Becker’s theory about the demand of children. The study adopts the approach of literature analysis and the method of in-depth interview, it analyzes the context of a woman raising children in Taiwan nowadays from various literature, and the author had interviewed 15 women who don’t have children living in Taipei. The study tries to figure out the concepts and the attitudes of these women and finds out the main reasons why they wouldn’t have children. As the result, the main reason that these women wouldn’t like to have children is primarily owing to the opportunity cost, but the direct cost is still the obstruction for them. The direct costs they care about can be divided to four points: (1) It’s not easy to keep a stable income, and the cost of living in Taipei is getting higher. (2) The direct cost of raising children is too expensive. (3) Government’s help in sharing direct costs or some other welfare policy is poor. (4) The concept of having children is changing, apart from the traditional one. The opportunity costs they care about can be divided to four points: (1) The will of woman pursuing her personal goal is getting stronger (2) the dilemma between working and mothering (3) The traditional Chinese culture of mothering (4) Paying efforts to raising children is another form of the opportunity cost. Most of them making decisions by taking both the direct and opportunity costs into consideration, instead of any single one. And, the different social status they are in, the different cost they care much more about. Women who are under 30 or unmarried are more worried about the direct costs. And the women who are over 30 and married are more worried about the opportunity costs. No matter the main cause they care about is either direct or opportunity cost, it shows these women are not satisfied of the environment in Taiwan and thus not willing to have children. They also emphasize that the context in Taiwan now is lack of appeal to them to have children. The personal economic condition, the uprising sense of being self-independent as well as pursuing life goals, and the poor support or subsidy from policies are all the factors that make these women wouldn’t like to have any child. It means, under the poor situation with less support, women’s willingness to bear children would be deeply affected by the raising cost.