CHAPTER 6 Discussion and Conclusion
6.2 Implications for Taiwanese Women
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One explanation is that a period of conflicting values caused by family values changing slower than other values is an additional phase in the demographic transition of societies with strong familial systems. One of the interviewed women in her fifties said she felt she was part of a transitional generation. During her life she felt a conflict between strong societal pressure to follow traditional expectations and the desire for individualism. The two women who showed the strongest conflict in values were in their thirties and forties, however. Another explanation is that certain women in Taiwanese society are following the predictions of SDT theory while others are following
predictions of theories of rigid family values, even in younger generations. Based on women’s values and life course choices, some women in the interview sample fit the SDT model while others fit models of rigid family values. The sample size was too small to identify what differentiated women who conformed to the SDT model from women who conformed to the rigid family value models, though patterns in the sample suggest it may be related to an age threshold after which the chances of marriage and children decrease. Additionally, it is unclear how other factors like income interact with values to determine demographic behavior or other life course decisions in Taiwan.
6.2 Implications for Taiwanese Women
In the previous section, findings could not prove that Taiwan is completely
following predictions of either Second Demographic Transition theory or theories of rigid family values. Instead, some women have embraced values of individualism and
nonconformity associated with the SDT while other women demonstrate a conflict between strong family values and individualism. This section seeks to answer the second overarching research question of this thesis by determining what the current situation of social values in Taiwan means for Taiwanese women. Specifically, this research is interested in how social values impact women’s freedom to choose their life courses. In order to answer this question, the next three subsections evaluate the remaining research questions outlined in Chapter 3 for the qualitative analysis of interviews with Taiwanese women. The last subsection draws conclusions about women’s ability to determine their own life course in Taiwanese society, based on interview responses.
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6.2.1 Evaluating the Impact of External Pressure to Follow a Traditional Life Course
The second research question for the qualitative analysis asked if women are being pressured by society or their families to choose a traditional life course. Most women in the interview sample agreed that society’s expectations for women still include traditional aspects like getting married, having children, and being a caretaker, but now also include having a successful career. A small number of women thought today’s expectations are less family-oriented than in the past and instead expect women to be financially independent and pursue self-development. Most women disagreed with the traditional aspects of expectations, especially younger women. Younger women thought marriage and children should be a personal choice and older women who disagreed said women want their own lives outside of the family as much as men do.
Despite disagreeing with societal expectations, most women in the sample said they did feel some degree of influence. Multiple women said influence was strongest when they were younger and lessened over time as women realized they could choose to disregard expectations. Multiple women also said they only followed expectations they agreed with and disregarded others. Most women in the sample also reported being influenced by their families. A couple of women said that family influence included when she should marry and to whom. About a third of the sample said that their families only had a small influence and they chose themselves which expectations to follow or ignore. Not all family influence added pressure to follow traditional expectations. Four women said their mothers were less traditional and encouraged them to make their own choices.
When making their own decisions, most women felt they needed to consider opinions of others, especially if a decision influenced them. Most women said they considered the opinions of people close to them. Only two women said they considered societal acceptance. Under a third said they felt completely free to decide on their own.
Among those who considered others’ opinions, most still said they do not blindly follow what others suggest. They consider what others say, then make their own choice.
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When women were asked how others reacted to nontraditional choices they made regarding staying single or childfree, most women said they were pressured to change their minds. Single women especially received frequent unsolicited matchmaking offers.
One unmarried woman in her forties even reported pressure from her family to have children despite being unmarried. However, a few women said they felt most people accepted their decisions and did not try to change their minds and one woman said she felt like she was more respected because she was single. The women in the sample mostly reported being open minded and accepting of others’ nontraditional choices themselves.
In total, the majority of women in the sample did experience some degree of external influence, especially in regard to traditional family expectations, but felt it was possible to refuse expectations with which they did not agree. Based on women’s answers, women are being pressured to follow a traditional life course, but they are not being forced into traditional life courses. Although women in the sample reported being largely resistant to being forced into decisions they disagreed with, multiple women said they thought Taiwanese women in general are heavily influenced by external
expectations and do not think critically about their own desires. If women’s impressions of other Taiwanese women are accurate, women in the sample may be unusually
independent-minded compared to an average woman and many other Taiwanese women may be following traditional life courses largely due to external pressure.
6.2.2 Evaluating Avoidance of Marriage and Children
The third research question for the qualitative analysis asked if women are
actively choosing to avoid marriage and children. Based on responses of the seven single women in the interview sample, only one woman was deliberately avoiding both
marriage and children while another was deliberately avoiding children and not willing to marry unless she met the right partner. Those two women were the oldest unmarried women in the sample.
Of the other five women, the two who were either conformist or conformist for family values were both in relationships and hoped to get married soon. One was 35 and
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had focused on her career when she was younger, but then decided to focus on her relationship. The other woman was 32 and intended to continue focusing on career development for another couple of years, then get married. Both of these women demonstrated clear intent to pursue marriage and children.
The last three women were nonconformist and only the youngest had a boyfriend.
The two who were single were focusing on their careers over relationships and the youngest was still completing her master’s degree. The woman with a boyfriend seemed the most likely to pursue marriage of the three, based on her answers. The nonconformist woman who was in her twenties and did not have a boyfriend said she eventually hoped to get married and maybe have a child though she currently did not want a relationship.
The oldest single nonconformist woman was 35. She said she did not necessarily care about getting married, but she did hope to find a meaningful relationship. She also realized that her choices so far may have made a relationship less likely for her and she accepted that.
Of the seven unmarried women in the sample, two were clearly seeking marriage and children and two were definitely avoiding marriage and/or children. Of the other three, one seemed likely to marry while the other two seemed likely to prioritize their careers, possibly to the extent that they might never marry. As one woman said,
It’s very difficult to have it all. It takes a long time to develop a career and if you want success you have to wait to marry and have kids and later you find out that you can’t [because it’s too late] …Women must either focus on a career and be happy with that or marry early and have to take a break from her career [to start a family] (Interview).
This combination of intentional and unintentional singlehood among women who seem less likely to marry matches responses from women in the interview sample when asked why they thought the rates of singlehood and being childfree are rising in Taiwan.
Most women thought it was a combination of circumstance and deliberate choice.
Therefore, this research concludes that while some women are deliberately choosing to avoid marriage or children, others may want marriage or children but are not actively seeking relationships. The latter type of woman may find that by the time she is satisfied
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with her career, it is much more difficult to find a relationship due to her age, fewer available potential partners, the demands of her career, or other factors.
6.2.3 Evaluating Other Factors that Negatively Impact Women’s Freedom to Determine their Life Courses
The last research question for the qualitative analysis asked what circumstances in Taiwanese society negatively affect women’s ability to follow their desired life courses.
Based on women’s answers about workplace equality, balancing career and family, and division of labor in the household, gender inequality is still a major barrier for women. In the workplace most women in the interview sample agreed that women have lower
salaries and fewer opportunities than men. Some women also thought that women are not taken as seriously at work and are given gendered tasks even when they are not included in her job description. Some women also reported that employers may discriminate against married women or women with children by giving them fewer opportunities or avoiding hiring them. These differences hold women back in three ways. First, the wage and opportunity gap makes it harder for a woman to be financially independent. The ability to be financially independent is essential because some women in the sample felt it was the key to being able to control their own lives. Second, being given extra administrative, organizational, or “domestic” tasks in the workplace distracts a woman from her actual job duties and may harm her performance. Third, a woman may have difficulty pursuing a successful career after marriage or children due to expectations that a woman’s attention will be divided between work and family.
In the home, most of the interviewed women reported that women in their households did more domestic work than men and nearly all of the childcare. Most women who had children either interrupted or discontinued their careers to care for them.
One woman also dropped out of her master’s degree program due to having children. It is clear that in the family realm, traditional gender roles have not disappeared.
Caretaking responsibilities were the main reason why most women in the sample thought it was very difficult for Taiwanese women to have both a career and family. They said even working women are still held responsible for the majority of housework and
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childcare, creating a double burden for women. Women also agreed that taking maternity leave hurts women’s career prospects even though her job is protected by law. When asked how the situation could be improved, most women suggested more government childcare facilities to lighten the burden of childcare responsibilities.
It is clear from women’s answers that gender inequality at home and in the workplace has a major influence on women’s ability to choose their own life courses. If a woman wants to pursue a successful career, she may struggle to be taken seriously or may have to work harder than male coworkers to be considered for promotions. For some women, lower salary and fewer opportunities may make her more dependent on others, which may also influence her ability to make her own decisions. If a woman wants a family, she is nearly guaranteed to harm or sacrifice her career after having children. For women who are well educated and financially independent, it is still possible to remain autonomous even though they may struggle against the disadvantages of gender roles and expectations. Women with lower level educations or with low income are most likely more dependent on their families and more subject to their family’s control than most of the women in the interview sample were. As one of the women said, before she was financially independent her family decided everything for her. She added that poor women have no choice; they must follow their family’s wishes.
6.2.4 Women’s Freedom to Control their Life Courses?
Based on the analysis of interview findings, the largest obstacles to women’s freedom of choice are unequal wages, unequal work opportunities, and unequal division of household labor. Pressure to conform to social expectations exists, but most of the women interviewed felt it was possible to resist. Therefore, women felt like they had control of their own decisions, but their options were constrained by their gender and economic circumstances.
Due to gender roles, women who wanted families felt they had to either compromise their careers or find outside help with childcare. The woman who
interrupted her career the least had to hire a full time nanny during the workweek. The woman who gave up her master’s degree for the sake of raising children could have
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chosen to keep studying, but she would have had to send her child away to live with her parents. Even in households where other tasks were shared, men rarely participated in childcare. Options for outside caretaking help were also limited. Women agreed that there are not enough government provided affordable childcare centers and private facilities or hiring a nanny are too expensive for most families. Both women who were actively avoiding a traditional life course with marriage and children explicitly cited the burdens of raising a child as one of the reasons. Even if a woman does not reject starting a family, she must postpone marriage and children if she wants a successful career.
The other major factor that constrained women’s freedom to make decisions was her economic circumstances. For economically disadvantaged women, they may be more reliant on family for support and therefore more subject to control. None of the women in the interview said they were currently in this situation, but one woman said it was true for her in the past and many other impoverished women were in the same circumstances.
There was also a pattern among interviewed women when taking maternity leave.
Women with lowest and highest incomes took the shortest time off. Women with low incomes presumably had no choice but to return to work while those with high incomes could afford to pay for childcare. Most women with average incomes paused their careers for several years at least until children were of school age or stopped working entirely after childbirth. From these findings, the decision to continue or pause a
woman’s working life is not completely the woman’s choice but rather a function of her economic situation. Additionally, most women believed that economic considerations were an important factor contributing to the overall rise in singlehood and childlessness in Taiwanese society.
In summary, it is clear that despite improvements in gender equality women in Taiwan still do not have complete freedom to pursue their desired life courses. Women who seek meaning through work may feel they need to choose between a career and family. Other women who value a successful career may find that they unintentionally postpone marriage and children too long. Women who highly value independence and freedom may feel they must reject marriage and children due to unequal gender roles within a family. Unequal salary and opportunity in the workplace may influence a
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woman’s ability to be financially independent and therefore undermine her ability to make her own choices. Finally, a woman’s financial circumstances may determine her childcare options and work/life balance.