The overall mortality rate in Taiwan has experienced a lengthy and drastic decline since 1920. The decline was first triggered by a phenomenal decrease in the infant mortality rate and, when this rate began to rest at its current low level, the elderly mortality rate took its turn to fall. As a result of the sharp drop then leveling off in the youth sector and the mild decrease then plunge in the elderly sector, rectangularization of the survival curve ensued. Although rectangularization of the survival curve implies the concept of a longevity limit, the existence of such a limit is still under debate. To avoid controversy, some scholars turn to interpret the rectangularization from the angle of mortality compression at age of death and extend their discussion to the phenomenon of longevity extension.
This paper, based on the analysis of life table survivors (l(subscript x)) and life table deaths (d(subscript x)), discusses several phenomena that appeared in Taiwan between 1955 and 2005. These phenomena include mortality compression, the horizontalization and verticalization of the survival curve, and the implied longevity extension. We use indexes, such as SD(M+) (standard deviation of age at death above M), C50 (the shortest age interval concentrating 50 percent of the life duration), and the interquartile range (IQR) of age at death, to measure the degree of mortality compression, and to decompose the influence of changing mortality rate on mortality compression by age group. Next, we apply fixed rectangle, moving rectangle and other indexes recommended by Cheung et al. (2005), such as β, θ, θ(superscript *) and M+4SD(M+), to measure the horizontalization of the survival curve, the verticalization of the survival curve and the degree of longevity extension. Our results show that (1) rectangularization of the survival curve (including both horizontalization and verticalization of the survival curve) steadily increased during 1955 to 2005; (2) the degree of mortality compression had lessened since 1970, and the underlying force behind the mortality compression had shifted from the decrease in the infant mortality rate to the decrease in the adult and elderly mortality rate; (3) the two indexes M+4SD(M+) and M+kSD(M+) indicate that the longevity limit for both genders is still expanding upward gradually.

Using a national representative sample of Taiwanese women age 18 to 64 (n=896) from the Taiwan Social Change Survey conducted in 2002, this study investigates the health effects of multiple roles on health for young and middle-aged women. In light of the Role Substitution Hypothesis, the Role Complementation Hypothesis, and the Role Combination Strain Hypothesis, certain interacting effects between marriage, employment, motherhood, and filial role are examined. Statistical analyses are performed separately for young and middle-aged women to examine the association between social roles occupied and health outcomes as well as interactions between age and the nature of work and family roles on health. Results show that certain social roles are more relevant to health status for women at specific stages of the life course. When marriage and filial role are associated with better perceived health for young women, motherhood is more beneficial in perceived health for middle-aged women. These findings imply that intergenerational relationships are strongly associated with Taiwanese women's perceived health status. In addition, complementary health effects between employment and motherhood are found among middle-aged women. Analyses of this study suggest that the impacts of multiple roles on health are subjected to change according to women's age, the nature of family roles, and the type of employment. Considering the overall results, we emphasize that in order to delineate the complicated relationships between social roles and women's health, more specific characteristics of roles occupied by women need to be taken into account.

This study investigates the spatial pattern of foreign brides in Taiwan, examines how the local marriage market and socioeconomic conditions shape it, and explores the extent to which neighborhood effects exist in the spatial pattern of foreign brides. Using data from the 2003 Survey of Foreign and Mainland Spouses' Life Status, we employ exploratory spatial data analysis and spatial econometrics to reveal the spatial pattern and test six hypotheses. The results indicate that foreign brides cluster around the rural townships of plain areas. Also, local social-economic conditions and marriage market availability contribute to spatial variation in foreign bride rates in each spatially local area. Further, neighborhood effects domatter for the formation of spatial clusters of the Mainland Chinese brides and Southeast Asian brides in Taiwan. For Southeast Asian brides, only the brides with the same origin show a significantly positive spatial-temporal lag effect. On the contrary, while Mainland Chinese brides show a significantly positive spatial-temporal lag effect in the spatial pattern of marriage in Taiwan, Southeast Asian brides show a significantly negative spatial-temporal lag effect, indicating that proximity to townships that had higher proportions of Southeast Asian brides decreases the likelihood of marrying Mainland Chinese brides. Finally, the strength of neighborhood effects of foreign brides significantly varies by regions. The neighborhood effects are strongest for townships located in metropolitan areas. However, there is no evidence to support neighborhood effects for those in mountain areas.

This study examines why a growing percentage of Taiwan-born immigrants in the U.S. have identified themselves as Taiwanese rather than ethnic Chinese in the U.S. decennial censuses between 1990 and 2000. The trend appears inconsistent with the assimilation theory, which postulates that ethnic groups will become more detached from ethnic politics and identity the longer they stay in the United States. The application of a double cohort method enables us to separate the period effect from the duration effect, which is critical to analyzing the changes. Results show sharp temporal differentiation and large geographical variation. The older generation of Taiwanese immigrants and recent arrivals to the United States, as well as those who live in Los Angeles, are the most likely to regard themselves as Taiwanese rather than ethnic Chinese. In contrast, Taiwanborn immigrants who have greater English proficiency, who have less education, and who have [mainland] Chinese as their neighbors are less likely to do so.
Moreover, age-at-arrival is a key determinant in identity formation and change. Those who came to the U.S. when they were young are least likely to regard themselves as Taiwanese. Over time, Taiwan-born immigrants have indeed become more acculturated. Young Taiwan-born immigrants who came to the U.S. before the 1970s are least likely to make a switch to Taiwanese during the period. However, acculturation alone does not prevent one from claiming Taiwanese identity on the census form. For Taiwan-born immigrants, writing in Taiwanese on the census form appears to be a ”rebellious” or ”awakening” act and a symbolic expression of solidarity with their compatriots in Taiwan, empowered by a growing sense of Taiwanese consciousness. Globalizationmay now have allowed immigrants to maintain a closer tie with their country of origin than before, especially in times of crisis.