No English abstract available

No English abstract available

A field study was carried out in 1978 to assess differences and similarities in marriage practices between rural and urban families in northern Taiwan. One thousand, two hundred and twenty-eight questionnaires were analyzed to determine attitudes about mate selection, parent’s attitudes toward their children’s marriage, attitude toward marriage as a family affair, and age at first marriage. Significant differences between the attitudes of rural inhabitants and urban inhabitants were found. Rural residents maintained more traditional Chinese values and customs than the urban residents. While the majority of rural families and strong parental influence in mate selection, the urban families did not. However, both rural and urban respondents considered marriage as a major family affair. The age of marriage for both males and females was older in the urban areas in comparison to the rural areas. Analysis of data also showed that higher education levels tend to raise age at first marriage for both sexes in urban and rural areas. This trend, however, was particularly strong among the urban male respondents. The information presented in this research report provides insight into the effects of industrialization and urbanization on the social fabric of contemporary Taiwan. The differences in marriage practices between urban and rural families has important

The purpose of this paper is to describe the pattern of population growth during the period of socio-economic development, 1905~1976. This analysis looks at population trends for two broad periods: (1) the period of agriculture from 1905~1942, and (2) the period of development from 1946~1976. This latter phase is examined in terms of (a) the initial period of societal development (1949~1960), and (b) the most recent period of transition from 1961~1976. It was found that following the transformation from an agrarian to an urban-industrial society, the population has undergone a transition, but the transition of both fertility and mortality exhibited a different speed and pattern in the stages of socio-economic development. In the initial stage, a moderately high birth rate rose even higher while mortality decreased. If we look at the demographic transition in terms of declining mortality, it may be said that the population was in transition from about 1910 onward. But this mortality deceline was more in keeping with the Malthusian model rather than transition theory; and it was not until 1956, when socioeconomic development began to have an effect on social structure, that birth rate declines took place. As societal development went further, the birth rate decline accelerated while the deth rate decline slowed down, and the population seemed to be approaching a new demographic balance between low birth and death rates. The lag between the transitions of mortality and fertility decline was only about 50 years in Taiwan, as compared to 100-200 years in most modern European countries.

This paper deals with the projection of primary school enrollments in the Taiwan-Fukien Area, 1983-87. Special emphasis is on the effects of recent fertility trends on educational needs. The projection was based on three types of data: (1) survival rations which were drawn from the life tables constructed by the Ministry of Interior; (2) monthly births which were recorded in the Taiwan-Fukien Demography Quarterly, published by the Ministry of Interior; and (3) data on enrollments in each grade which were published in educational Statistics, provided by the Ministry of Education. The results of the analysis include: (1) births corresponding to each academic year, (2) the survival ratio from birth to age at entrance, (3) projections of the grade 1 enrollments, (4) estimates of median grade-to-grade progression ratios, (5) primary school enrollments at each grade, (6) annual increase of students, (7) annual increase in number of classes, and (8) annual increase of teachers. It is suggested that the Government should spend a higher percentage of its revenue on compulsory education in order to meet the demand that will result from a rapid increase in primary school enrollments. A higher priority in allocating government budgets should be given to areas where increase in enrollments is projected to be greater. It is also suggested that the proposed program for extending the compulsory education from 9 to 12 years be delayed until the national economy begins to recover and the quality of compulsory education be improved to meet the requirements of the current education system.

This paper attempts to describe the dynamics of population change in Taiwan since 1905. It is found that the population growth during the past seventy years has effected cyclical shifts in the age composition of the population. Before the war, the age composition shifted toward the young end with the proportion of young surviving children enlarged. Then after the war, the age composition shifted back to the old end indicating the shrinkage of the proportion. It is suggested that the changes in age composition can be attributed to the trend of mortality decline since the early twenties. In other words, we argue that the mortality decline had a larger effect on the surviving of young children than the other age groups. With a controlled population model proposed by Ronald D. Lee, we show that the fertility decline, which effected in the upward turning of the age composition after the war, is simply a response to the mortality decline with a time lag of about twenty years.

The focus of this research is on the distribution and movement of population and the characteristics of travel demand in the Taipei, metropolitan area. It demonstrates that the diffusion of population through suburbanization has alleviated population concentration in the city, and the transportation network should be improved, if possible, in accordance with the increasing needs of travel demand. The difference of population distribution between daytime and nighttime among regions reflect the scattered activities and the intensity of traffic flo which shows the traffic volume generated and attracted mutually among the regions. The study finds the imbalance in the movement of population among regions and the strong movement of population between daytime and nighttime. The pressure that results from population movement on time and space causes the problems of housing and congestion. After a preliminary analysis, it is found that the imbalance or transportation supply and demand will be worse if no action is taken. Therefore, the improvement of mass transit system on which most population depend should be expedited, especially, the existing problems such as the uneconomie radial routing of bus system should be solved. In sum, in the process of urbanization and suburbanization, the distribution of population will change in the metropolitan area, so does the travel demand pattern. For adapting to those changes, a comprehensive planning, including urban and transportation planning, should be carefully considered.