lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 31293 00790 6906 This is to certify that the thesis entitled WOMEN ' S STATUS IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: TAIWAN AS A CASE STUDY presented by Lung-Tung Chiu has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Master of Arts degree in Sociology Major professor Date July 24, 1990 0-7639 MS U i: an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution h! r ' j LIBRARY Ithhigan State University L J PLACE IN RETURN BOX to remove this checkout from your record. TO AVOID FINES return on or before date due. DATE DUE DATE DUE DATE DUE I E35» ‘3 3523 “- 4 L 1 l— GUNHm' “‘1 MSU I. An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution cmmhd 7 V,i_m WOMEN'S STATUS IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: TAIWAN AS A CASE STUDY BY Lung-rung Chiu A THESIS Submitted to Michigan state University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Sociology 1990 ABSTRACT WOMEN'S STATUS IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: TAIWAN AS A CASE STUDY BY Lung-Tung Chiu This thesis examines changes in women's status in post- war Taiwan. A literature review provides the theoretical orientation of the thesis. It identifies the main social institutions to assess and provides the conceptual framework for the analysis. The research design is based on a secondary analysis of census data and the strengths and limitations of data are discussed. A brief account of how changes in Taiwan's economic strategy affected labor absorption is presented, before a general description is given of women's labor force participation in selected years, and an assessment is made of female employment by various criteria. Women's status in various educational institutions is also evaluated. The final area of analysis concerns how the patriarchal family system defines women's positions in the home, and how this dictates women's status in other institutions. My findings suggest that although some positive changes were brought about in the course of economic development in the post-war Taiwan, sexual stratification between the sexes was also perpetuated in some senses. These findings are then used to speculate about the usefulness and limitations of the concepts of "integration" versus "marginalization" and "exploitation" in evaluating women's status in economic development. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many thanks to my advisor, Dr. Melissa Barker, for her guidance and encouragement throughout the study. I am also indebted to the other committee members, Dr. Nan Johnson and Dr. Stan Kaplowitz, for their valuable suggestions and constructive reviews of the draft, which have provided new directions for my future study. Thanks are also extended to Pei-Wen Wang, Li-Ching Wang, and my family as well. Indeed, this work would not have been possible without their help and support. iii TABLE OP CONTENTS List of tables INTRODUCTION LITERATURE REVIEW Individual Level Explanations Institutional Level Explanations WOMEN'S STATUS IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Modernization Theory Patriarchal Capitalism METHODOLOGY TAIWAN'S ECONOMY Changes in Economic Strategies Labor Mobility and Labor Absorption WOMEN'S ECONOMIC STATUS Labor Force Participation Rates Employment by Occupation Employment by Industry Employment Status EDUCATION IN THE CHANGING WORLD Enrollment Literacy Rate Sex Difference in the Distribution of Graduates by Field WOMEN'S STATUS AT HOME Household Burden Number of Children Wanted Security in Old Age and Male Preference CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY iv 15 19 19 23 26 26 37 4O 43 45 48 51 53 62 67 7O 72 73 Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. LIST OF TABLES Per Capita Income of Farm and Non-farm Families Employed Population Aged 15 and Over in Taiwan by Industry Labor Force Participation Rates in Taiwan Labor Force Participation Rates in Taiwan: Selected Years for Males Labor Force Participation Rates in Taiwan: Selected Years for Females Females' Share of Employment by Occupation: 1956-1975 Females' Shares of Employment by Industry: 1956-1975 Employment Status by Sex: Selected Years Enrollment for Selected Years Literacy Rates for Selected Years Sex Distribution by Field: Junior Vocational Education Sex Distribution by Field: Senior Vocational Education Sex Distribution by Field: Junior College Sex Distribution by Field: College Reasons for Being Non-economically Active Mean Preferred Number of Children for Married Women Aged 22-39 Expectation for Living and Financial Support in Old Age, by Education and Urbanization in Taiwan, 1970-73 23 26 28 29 30 38 42 45 50 52 55 56 58 61 69 71 73 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Labor Force Participation Rates for Males: 34 Selected Years Figure 2. Labor Force Participation Rates for Females: 35 Selected Years vi 1 INTRODUCTION Since the Taiwan government adopted its export-oriented strategy in the 19603, Taiwan has successfully made strides in its economic development. The rise of industrial society has generated a number of economic, political, and social changes. Among these, changes in women's labor patterns has thus far been well documented. Chiang (1963) compared the employment rates of Taiwanese women with those in 38 other countries in the early 19605. He concluded that the rates of women's employment in Taiwan were far below the average figures. However, by 1988 there were a total of 1,989,692 women in the labor market, which accounted for 46.20 percent of the total female population aged 15 and over. Undoubtedly, more females in Taiwan are working outside the home today than ever before. Work as an activity presumably performs many functions for the individual (Fox & Hesse-Biber, 1984:3). However, has work outside the home environment redefined women's status in Taiwan? Many Western scholars, who are interested in examining changes in Taiwanese women's status at home and at work hold the pessimistic view that sexual stratification has been perpetuated in Taiwan (Gallin, 1984; Greenhalgh, 1985). However, most of their conclusions are based on reports of field experiences with a small number of cases. 2 Therefore, this thesis will use population census data to explore how women's statuses in different social institutions are interrelated, and to assess women's net status in the post-war Taiwan. IJTERATURE REVIEW To assess and monitor changes in women's status is especially necessary as more and more women are engaging in non-traditional work. The phenomenon of women's inferior status is not unique to Taiwan. It indeed has entailed comprehensive discussions in many other Asian and Western countries. Many theories have been put forth regarding what accounts for the inequality of treatment experienced by females within different social institutions. This literature has included individual and structural level explanations, as well as recent examinations based on either modernization theory or the notion of "Patriarchal Capitalism". Traditionally, scholars have stressed personal or cultural factors in explaining differences in economic status between the sexes. However, later these conventional analyses were challenged by alternative explanations which stress social, structural, or demand-side factors. More recently, two alternative explanations of women's employment patterns have grown out of theoretical orientations on women 3 in international development (Tiano, 1981). These two alternative explanations are based on modernization theory and Marxist Feminist theory. A discussion of each of these theoretical developments, dealing first with individual and structural level explanations in general, and then women's status in economic development in particular provides this paper with its theoretical underpinnings. INDIVIDUAL LEVEL EXPLANATIONS Initial explanations of women's status in society focused on individual characteristics and their impact on such things as occupational patterns and wage differehces between men and women. Two approaches, typical of the individual level explanations have been identified as the "Human Capital Theory" and "Sex Role Theory". These are briefly reviewed and described below. Human Capital Theory The Human Capital approach explains wage differences between men and women in terms of assumed productivity differences. The initial notion that wage differences are based on contributions to production is found back in the time of Adam Smith. Its proponents attempt to explain wage differences as a function of variables such as a worker's 4 age, education, training, migration, and labor force experiences. Thus, acquiring education, job skills and so forth is regarded as investment in human capital that yields returns in the form of higher wages (Stevenson, 1978:91). There are some problems embedded in this theory. First, this theory does not explain away wage differences between the sexes satisfactorily when such important factors as education, training, and experience are controlled. Thus, any remaining wage differences may be attributed to discrimination. Secondly, this theory implies that if women invest in their own human capital, they will better their positions in the labor market. Since the decision to invest in human capital is assumed to be made as a free choice by the individual, this theory may be used to justify women's present economic position (Stevenson, 1978:90). Overall, Human Capital Theory implies that the solution to the problem of women's inferior economic position lies within the individual, and fails to take into account the structural factors. Young females, for example, may be less likely to make an investment in post-school education. This could arise through lack of encouragement from schools or family, but it could also arise because the anticipated returns females may expect from such investments are lower than those received by males who make similar investments. 5 On the other hand, employers may be reluctant to hire or to train women because they assume that women will leave the labor force to bear or raise children. Therefore, the Human Capital approach is no more than blaming the victim. Sex Role Theory Another individual level approach to explaining differences between men and women's status in society is offered by Sex Role Theory. This approach assumes that sex roles are responsible for the segregation of the labor market. This theory states that the role of "homemaker" is assigned to the female while the role of "breadwinner" to the male. Therefore, even when women are allowed to enter the labor market, they are more likely to hold the "housewife-extended" jobs. Fox and Hesse Biber (1984) contended that The essence of the individual model is that women's preferences - for traditional female-typed jobs, and thus the types of work for which they apply, the types of training they receive, and the occupations they wind up in - are the primary determinants of women's labor- force position" (1984:94). Fox and Hesse Biber further throw doubt on whether a woman's choice is free. They suggest that one way to unravel the myth of freedom to choose is to understand how role and status differences between the sexes come about and how they are maintained. For example, Nielsen (1978) argued that sex roles must be viewed as either predestined or 6 externally imposed. Hence, it is clear that a woman's "choice" is not free since she is not free to choose her sex role. Also, this approach seems to assume that there are no limitations on opportunities in the labor market. This 7U< assumption cannot stand to reason because of the segregation of the labor market and the imbalance between the demand of the labor market and the supply of the available labor. Overall, this approach, like Human Capital theory, ignores structural factors. Thus, other approaches have emerged to address these aspects. INSTITUTIONAL LEVEL EXPLANATION! Structural level explanations of the status of women in society emerged to remedy some of the oversights and limitations of the individual level explanations. One }. example of this approach is found in the "Dual Labor Market Hypothesis". This approach is briefly reviewed and described below. Dual Labor Market The notion of dualism in the labor market was first put forward by Robert Averitt in his book The_gugl_§ggngmy (1968). In the book, Averitt argued that there are the sectors constituting the economy. In contrast to the 7 assumptions of Human-Capital Theory, this approach argues that there is not a single competitive labor market in the economy, but rather, the market consists of two sectors. Averitt contended that large firms, (or the "primary sector") control not only the price and quantity of their output, but also the stability and uncertainty of demand, and the capital required for production. Small firms (or the "secondary sector") are so tightly constrained by the market that it determines their decisions about price, capital investments, labor, and so on. Small firms are basically motivated by a desire to survive and earn a profit and have no independent interest in growth or in a share of the market. In some conceptualizations, the primary and secondary sectors are further divided into tiers. In both sectors, women are more concentrated in the lower tiers with poorer pay and less desirable working conditions. Further, the "crowding effect" generated by channelling women into the lower tier of the sectors inflates the supply of labor, thus reducing women's level of earnings (Stevenson, 1978:96; Fox & Hesse Biber, 1984:79). This approach indeed well describes the segregation of the labor market, and takes into account the structural factors. However, the dual labor market theory fails to explain adequately how the segregation of the labor market takes shape, and persists, and it does not examine women's 8 status in developing countries. Thus, in this paper I will focus on two additional approaches for guidance. WOMEN'S STATUS IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT To understand the specific conditions affecting women in societies undergoing economic development, two theoretical explanations have been offered. Initially, women's status was conceptualized as improving through the processes of "modernization". However, later theorists advanced the notion of "patriarchal capitalism" to examine the negative aspects of change in developing societies. These approaches have suggested that women may be "marginalized" or "exploited" as result of economic development. These explanations are examined in greater detail below. Modernization Theory One of the explanations which extends the conventional theories to include women in developing countries is Modernization theory. Modernization theory has been the principal framework for most of the Third World development programs. This theory holds that developed countries should be used as models for the industrialization and development of the Third World (Joel, 1989z7). Modernization theory presumes that socioeconomic development leads to the 9 improvement of women's status, and increases their well- being (Antino, 1981:2). Its proponents argue that through economic development, the workplace becomes differentiated from the household. In traditional societies, the patriarchal structure underpinning pre-modern society is seen as subordinating women to male authority figures within the family and the village (Lerner, 1958:99). However, in modern societies, structural changes produce a monogamous nuclear family within which familial roles can be redefined. The sex-based economic division of labor is reformulated to correspond to the division between the household and the workplace. The husband becomes the primary breadwinner, sustaining the family economically with wages earned outside the home. The wife is accorded household esponsibilties. Although the household is defined as women's primary place, this development does not limit women's opportunities for employment outside the home. On the contrary, a number of changes associated with socioeconomic development are assumed to expand women's range of options for labor force participation. Also, socioeconomic development transforms the stratification system from a rigid caste system into a fluid, multi-strata class system (Antino, 1981z3). Hence, modernization theory suggests that women receive more autonomy, and freedom in an economically developed society than in traditional society. 10 Although, economic development brings about a number of positive changes in women's status, some evidence suggesting the denigration and erosion of women's status have challenged this theory (Joel, 1989:20). In response to these findings an alternative theory suggests that modernization engenders costs, and the impacts of social and cultural changes are unevenly distributed among different classes. This alternative approach suggests that women are marginalized or exploited by development. Patriarchal capitalism The concept of Patriarchal Capitalism has emerged as a more recent theoretical approach to understanding women's status. It uses concepts from a traditional Marxist approach to analyze conflict in societies. However, since the issue of women's status did not form a pivotal theme in Marx's work, this perspective has been extended by incorporating other theoretical insights and a general discussion of women as members of the oppressed class. The development of the notion of patriarchal capitalism has proceeded in several stages. These include contributions by "Early Marxist Feminists", "Radical Feminists", and "Later Marxist Feminists". The traditional Marxian belief was that change in the status of women arose primarily with their removal from the confines of the capitalist family structure (Joseph, 11 1983:194). By taking the institution of the family as given, Early Marxist theorists developed an explanation concerning the way in which the family is connected to the process of production under capitalism. In this perspective, once women "go out" to work, they are no longer exploited as women but as workers'. Traditional Marxists subsumed women's oppression to the larger class struggle, and expected that the emancipation of women would take place with the revolution. Early Marxist Feminists, however, have turned their attention to women's position in the home, in order to provide a basis for understanding women's secondary position in capitalist society. Early Marxist Feminists generally accepted the argument by Marx and Engels that patriarchy is a function of private property, and developing class and state relations, and in particular, of wage labor relations in a capitalist society. According to this view, with the development of a class society women's labor became transformed from a public contribution to the community as a whole to the private property of their husbands. Early Marxist Feminists also 1 The introduction of technological advances in the mechanization of production reduced the amount of physical strength needed in many jobs, which made it easier to bring women and children into the factories. And, because the process of mechanization diskills workers, workers as a whole, including women and children, become logically more homogenous. Hence, class conflicts are more pronounced than ever before. 12 have argued that in the dual mode of production, women's unwaged labor is essentially important to capitalists' expropriation of surplus value, and it is the cause of women's inferior status in the labor market because women are underpaid as secondary breadwinners (Sokoloff, 1983:194). The further development of Marxist theories has come with the introduction of the concept of patriarchy. It is the Radical Feminists who try to capture the nature and influences of patriarchy in modern capitalist society. In comparison to the idea that patriarchy is autonomous but primarily ideological, the Radical Feminists have suggested that in modern society it is not just ideological but material (Sokoloff, 1980:154). Women's reproductive ability is deemed as the material base of patriarchy. Thus, Rich (1976) contended that the way to end economic class exploitation is to eliminate the so-called first class exploitation on which capitalism rests. Furthermore, Rich believed that "the repossession of women of their own bodies would bring far more essential change to human society than the seizing of the means of production by the worker"2. Nevertheless, Radical Feminists fail to see that the class oppression and exploitation of capitalism is not merely an evolutionary offshoot of sexism (1980:158). 2 Rich (1976: 285) cited in Sokoloff (1980: 156). 13 Later Marxist Feminists have challenged the sexual division of labor between home and market. They have not accepted as given either the sexual division of production or the sexual division of labor within the market. Rather, they have asserted that the sexual division of production between home and market and the sexual division of work within the labor market must both be understood as the result of a synthesis of the social relations of the sexes (Sokoloff, 1980:198). "Women's place" is increasingly experienced not as a separate sphere but as an oppressed position within the society. Their unwaged labor in fact is used against them in the labor market. The institution of the male wage as a "family wage" is an example here. The segregation of the labor market is also used to perpetuate women's roles in the home. Hence, when in a period of prosperity in the capitalist economy, large numbers of women are drawn into the labor market. However, women are usually found at the bottom of the industrial employment hierarchy. In economic recession, they are often forced to drop out. where they then serve as a reserve army for capitalist economy. Recent developments in the theory of Patriarchal Capitalism have converged upon the dialectical relationships between the home and the labor market. One concept relating to this approach is "marginalization", which means the concentration of certain workers on the "edge" or "margins" 14 of the labor market into positions that are systematically and structurally denied access to power, prestige and higher levels of wages (Joel, 1989:21). Marginalization resulted from imbalances between the labor demands of the capitalist economy and the available labor supply. Furthermore, other authors, instead of suggesting that positive changes will come with economic development, hold the view that women's status deteriorates in the course of economic development, and that they are in fact exploited by it (Tiano, 1981). Since the concept of Patriarchal Capitalism more satisfactorily captures the importance of structural factors in perpetuating women's inferior status in contempory capitalist societies, I have adopted this perspective in my thesis, and hypothesize that women's status has worsened in post-war Taiwan. Census data are used to evaluate the applicability of this theory to changes in Taiwanese women's status, by examining evidence of marginalization at work, home and in educational institutions. However, the dialectical relationships between the home and the labor market hardly present a complete picture of the present status of women. Analytically, the explanatory power could be improved if women's status in other social institutions is also included in the study of sex inequality. In fact, the above theories suggest that factors contributing to the women's inferior status in the labor market might be either individual or structural, and 15 generally may be attributed to a combination of the factors of patriarchy, capitalism, and human capital investment. METHODOLOGY The time period covered by the paper is divided into two segments, before and after 1960. This is due to the adoption of an export-oriented strategy in 1960. Traditional Chinese family values and the economy in the former period of time are considered as preconditions. Thus, one purpose of the paper is to see how changes in family values and national economic strategy affect women's status in different institutions, and thereby to gain a better understanding of the basis of sex inequality in Taiwan. Therefore, women's status in the home, at work, and in educational institutions are conceptually dependent variables. Data from four national censuses are used3. From the point of view of research design, this is a secondary analysis. Secondary analysis is defined by Hakim (1982) as any re-analysis of data collected by another researcher or organization, including the analysis of data sets collated from a variety of sources to create time series or area- based data sets (Hakim, 1982:24). As far as the data sets 3 my main data are from the 1956, 1966, 1970, and 1975 population censuses conducted in Taiwan. 16 are concerned, Hakim's second approaché is adopted, which is to use a single data set which is extended by the addition of data from other sources, thus providing a richer and more comprehensive basis for the secondary analysis. In this thesis, census data are the main source of evidence. There are some limitations and strengths pertaining to both the general nature of censuses and the practice of specific census data sets. The strengths of census data are pronounced in reducing the costs of data collection and in reducing respondent burden. Census data as a by-product of administration are available in most countries in the world, and are usually published a certain period of time after the census is conducted. Once being published, census data are readily accessible to both research institutes and individual researchers. Unfortunately, deficiencies which plague traditional data collection seem to be unavoidable in census data. Noel J. Purcell (1983) assessed census data in terms of three key requirements which are detail, timeliness, and relevance. He states: Census data certainly provide the required detail in relation to geographic and demographic information, but they are not timely and sometimes not relevant either (1933:114). ‘ See Hakim's classification in his books and Secondary Analysis in Social Research (1982). Three approaches can be used in secondary design in terms of what data are used. 17 In addition to the general nature of the population census, the specific census data, especially serving the purpose of comparability, should be evaluated in terms of its quality. In evaluating the quality of census data, it is suggested that the distinction between statistical evaluation and demographic analysis of census data must be understood?. Hence, census operations should be conducted with a clear idea of the data analysis and utilization required to ensure their quality (UN, 1980:8). In reality, however, such a goal is not easy to attain because of the lack of national resources to prepare a detailed program of prolonged analytical research. This is exactly the case in Taiwan until DGBAS‘5 was set up and given the responsibility for the processing of all the national statistical data. Therefore, it has been found advisable to prepare a program of analysis which concentrates on broad areas of the major components of population change, and to carry out the evaluation and analysis of basic data relating to age-sex structure, fertility, mortality, migration, economic characteristics and the preparation of population 5 Statistical evaluation refers to those that deal mainly with statistical methods that can be applied in evaluating the coverage and patterns of error in a census. Demographic analysis, on the other hand, entails "a comprehensive and co-ordinated programme of analytical studies, phased over a period of several years" to be drawn up "in order to ensure the fullest possible utilization of results.." (UN, 1980: 5). 6 Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics. 18 projections (UN, l980:6). In this thesis, the tables used in the discussions regarding statistical evaluation were specifically compiled to meet the paper's needs. The four censuses indeed suffer from inconsistencies of definition of the concepts. Economically active rates, for example, involve different age groups. In the 1956 and 1966 population censuses, the lower age limit of the economically active population was set at the age of 12 and over. However, in the 1970 and 1975 censuses, the lower age.limit of economically active population was raised to the age of 15 and over. Comparability is impaired further by excluding armed forces from the 1956 census7. The effect is to understate both absolute size of the labor force and its proportion to the population. Whenever possible, adjustments have been made to further ensure comparability. These are noted on the tables in which the data appear. The inadequacies of census data are also acknowledged by other scholars (Shryock et.al., 1976: Baster, 1981). However, census data do provide the paper with crucial information as my paper aims at the analysis of long-term changes in women's status. 7 The household data of military personnel was no longer kept confidential in the 1966 census. 19 TAIWAN'S ECONOMY Economic Strategies In the time period before the return of Taiwan to China, Taiwan was under colonial rule of Japan. In order to provide a forward base for control of southeast Asia as well as further contact with China, the Japanese government began to build up the infrastructure of colonial Taiwan, which thus enjoys a fairly high standard of living in comparison to its counterpart, Mainland China. Thus, as Alice H. Amsden has argued, it is a misconception that the "Taiwan miracle" commenced with the export of labor-intensive manufactures and a reduction of government management of trade and monetary matters in the decade of the 19603 (1979:343). However, in 1945, 75 percent of the labor force was employed in agriculture (Brandt, 1968:1069). Agriculture was still the most important sector in the late 19408. Production in the agricultural sector accounted for over 90 percent of total exports. Therefore, any serious agricultural problem would have posed a threat to the society. Scarcity and uneven distribution of farmland further deteriorated since the first census was conducted. At the time of the retrocession of Taiwan to China in 1945, the number of tenant farmers was about 70 per cent (Koo, 1968:27). 20 The tenancy conditions further compounded by the massive immigration of Chinese mainlanders forced the government to seek a reasonable solution. Various land reform acts were directly aimed at addressing this problem. Land reforms were initiated in the late 19403. First, farm rent was limited to a maximum of 37.5 percent of the total main crop yield. Second, in June 1951, public land was distributed on easy terms with preference given to the tenant claimants. Third, in 1953, the "Land-to-the-Tiller Act" was implemented (Amsden, 1979:357). The main focus was on the income distribution, which in turn engendered class transformation (Hsiao, 1986). The secondary effect of land reform was the use of funds acquired by the landowners after they had sold their land (Koo, 1968:3). In the early 19503, a majority of Taiwan's population and a substantial part of its economic activities were in rural areas; purchases of productive and consumptive goods by rural households made up a substantial portion of total market transactions (Adams, 1975:129). The purchases of consumer goods by agricultural households from the non- agricultural sector almost doubled during the time period of 1952-1958. This created a favorable situation for furthering industrialization. The import substitution strategy was then adopted in 1960 as a key element of Taiwan's economic plans. 21 Through the state's policies of protectionism and surplus extraction from agricultural sector to industrial sector, private sector and state-owned industries were then expanded. Hsiao (1986) concluded that the public or state- owned industries, such as in fertilizers and electrical power, were still the major beneficiaries under the import substitution strategy. In the 19603, however, the economic situation changed appreciably, which made new measures necessary. As Ching- yuan Lin stated: In the 19503, when price inflation and a severe shortage of foreign exchange prevailed, incentives for investment in productive activities were provided perhaps mostly through the preferential allocation of foreign exchange, the availability of 0.5. aid and bank loans at interest rates much lower than in the market, and the price advantage of domestic producers vis-a-vis their foreign competitors created by the system of foreign-exchange and import controls. With the oncoming of price stabilization and the substantial narrowing of the rate differentials between the official and black markets of foreign exchange, these policy incentives gradually lost their attractiveness, and in the 19603 greater reliance was placed instead on tax incentives (1973:84). In order to meet the challenge of the new economic situation, a host of financial measures were revised in light of foreign investments. A basic reform included in the "Third Economic Plan" is the "Nineteen-Point Economic 8 Refer to articles by Amsden (1979), Kuo (1981), and Lee (1971). Two mechanisms are the barter of fertilizer for rice and compulsory rice purchases. 22 Financial Reform“ (Lin, 1976:19; Kuo, 1981:73).9 The response of industry to export expansion in the early 19603 was still slow. In 1965, the statute was revised and its scope expanded. The Kaohsiung Export Processing Zone was set up within which no duties were imposed on imports. The development strategy at the time was entirely export- oriented, and this continued into the 19803. As a result of the expansion of export-oriented industries, Taiwan was able to limit unemployment in the 19503 and to approach conditions of full employment in the 19603 (Oshima & Lai, 1976:141). However, the gap of income between non-farm families and farm families widened (see Table 1). This was also the case between rural areas and cities (Kou, 1981:101). It is worthwhile to note that most of the gains in farm household income have increasingly come from non-farm sources. As Table 1 shows, in 1954 farm families earned 75 9 According to Kuo (1981), its basic objectives are: 1. to make a thorough review of past control measures in order to liberalize those measures; 2. to give preferential treatment to private businesses in regard to taxes, foreign exchange, and financing; 3. to reform the tax system and its administration to enhance capital formation: 4. to reform foreign exchange and trade systems, aiming at the establishment of a unified exchange rate and liberalization of trade control, consistent with the payments situation: and 5. to promote measures encouraging export expansion, improve procedures governing the settlement of foreign exchange earned by exporters, and increase contacts with foreign business organizations. 23 percent of the total earned by non-farm families, however, in 1970 earnings by farm families declined to 60 percent. This phenomenon suggests the shift in importance between sectors. In the following section the focus will be on shifts between these two sectors, namely, labor mobility and labor absorption. Table 1 Per Capita Income of Farm and Non-farm Families Year Farm family (1) Non-farm family (2) (3)* (NT$) (NT$) (*l 1954 1,661 2,216 75 1959 2,500 2,985 85 1964 3,845 6,277 61 1966 4,509 6,464 70 1968 4,757 8,214 58 1970 5,350 8,894 60 Data source: Table 4 in Amsden, 1979, also see Lee and Shen,1970. * (3) = (1) / (2) x 100. Labor Mobility and Labor Absorption Through the above-mentioned policies, there is evidence of the transformation of economic structure in the course of development. In 1974 total foreign trade amounted to $12.6 billion, or 89 percent of Taiwan's GNP of $14.1 billion. The economy was and is highly export-oriented and has one of the highest ratios in the world (Williams, 1976:41). 24 Moreover, the export structure shows the importance of sector shifts from agriculture to industry. In 1953, agricultural products and processed agricultural products accounted for 92 percent of the total amounts that were exported. However, agricultural products were replaced by industrial products in 1979, which now have the major share of the total (Kuo, 1981:24). Oshima and Lai, in their article "Labor Absorption in Taiwan", compute the Gn/Gy ratio to indicate the extent to which labor-intensive techniques are used in production”. They found that the growth rate of employment divided by the growth rate of income for the 19503 works out to be .42, indicating that labor-intensive methods were employed to raise production. As the purchasing power of the farming families increases, the demand on the products of the industrial and service sectors becomes higher, which makes possible the transfer of surplus labor to the industrial sector and service sector. In effect, the annual growth rate of employment in agriculture was low in the 19503, and even declined in the 19603, because the arable land and capital were limited (Hu, 1976:23). Therefore, labor absorption is more significant in industrial and service sectors. Table 2 illustrates that in 1956 a total of 1,490,179 workers were m Where Gn represents the growth of national employment while Gy means the growth of national product. 25 in the Primary sector”, which was far beyond the number of people working in either the Secondary sector or the Tertiary sector. Taiwan was typical of an agrarian society where the Primary sector accounted for most of output and job opportunities. Nevertheless, job opportunities in the Primary sector ceased to increase in the 19603 while the Secondary and the Tertiary sectors began to expand and to provide new opportunities for new workers and surplus labor from the Primary sector. The 1966 census data show that the Secondary and Tertiary sectors already absorbed more than 60 percent of the employed population.. By and large, in the 19603 the Tertiary sector had the biggest share of the total employment, followed by the Primary sector, and then by the Secondary sector. The 1975 census suggests that this has been the case ever since. The only exception was implied by the 1970 census in which the Primary sector was experiencing expansion in the late 19603 due to the second agricultural reform (Hu, 1976). However, changes in both the Secondary and the Tertiary sectors were somehow more dramatic. " The Primary sector refers to extraction industries, including agriculture, fishery, forestry, and hunting. The Secondary sector is comprised of mining & quarrying, manufacturing, electricity, gas & water, and construction. The Service sector refers to commerce, transportation, storage & communication, and community, social & personal services. 26 Table 2 Employed Population aged 15 and over in Taiwan by sectors: selected years Year 1956 1966 1970 1975 Sector Primary 1,490,179 1,502,013 1,853,412 1,801,776 55.91% 39.79% 38.38% 30.83% Secondary 447,977 678,197 1,001,844 1,669,407 16.81% 17.97% 20.75% 28.56% Tertiary 727,334 1,594,272 1,974,058 2,373,674 27.29% 42.24% 40.88% 40.61% Source: Data were computed from 1956, 1966, 1970, and 1975 censuses. WOMEN'S ECONOMIC STATUS Labor Force Participation Rates Due to the growing demand of the labor market in Taiwan, women began working outside the home. Female labor force participation rates are examined first. The labor force was defined by Durand (1964:8) as those individuals who furnish the supply of labor for production of economic goods and services. However, the four censuses have I utilized a broader definition of labor force. The DGBAS's definition of labor force included those civilians who, during the reference week, were 15 years of age or over and who were available to work, including both the employed and the unemployed. In general, the labor force in the four 27 censuses is specified as including those who are employed, worked before and were seeking a job, or were seeking a job for the first time. Hence, the labor force referred to in the tables includes people who fall within these three categories. However, the lowest age of the labor force for the first two censuses is incongruent with that for the last two, when the nine-year compulsory education requirement was implemented. For the purpose of comparison, data from the first two censuses are adjusted, and the age of 15 and over has been used in this paper. The 1956 census indicates that the labor force for Taiwan was 2,977,105 including 2,399,830 males and 577,275 females. After two decades of expansion, in 1975 the labor force swelled to 6,139,156 and males accounted for 4,345,860 while females accounted for 1,793,296 labor force members. Further, the total population for Taiwan in 1956 was 5,779,400 compared to 10,257,763 in 1975. Apparently, the labor force had changed in relation to the total population in Taiwan. Table 3 indicates that labor force participation rates in Taiwan increased steadily. Durand suggested that a country's labor force in proportion to its population, was determined by three components: (a) the level of participation in the labor 28 Table 3 Labor Force Participation Rates in Taiwan: selected years, in percentages. Year 1956 1966 1970 1975 Age 15-19 59.74 54.04 49.06 45.77 20-24 54.72 58.57 63.77 69.36 25-29 56.93 58.65 61.95 65.13 30-34 57.75 60.49 62.81 65.93 35-39 $9.25 65.53 66.59 67.58 40-44 59.56 65.76 70.20 69.96 45-49 55.00 63.17 67.82 71.50 50-54 48.09 58.38 62.05 66.37 55-59 36.55 45.56 53.27 57.10 60-64 22.17 31.67 36.90 41.72 65+ 7.32 13.05 14.41 17.14 Total 53.15 56.26 57.90 59.85 Source: From the 1956, 1966, 1970, and 1975 censuses. If not specified, data below are adjusted, and the lowest limit of age is set at 15. 29 Table 4 Labor Force Participation Rates in Taiwan: selected years for males, in percentages. Year 1956 1966 1970 1975 Age 15-19 77.49 60.91 52.96 45.97 20-24 91.17 83.38 85.29 87.03 25-29 96.12 95.19 95.64 95.72 30-34 96.40 97.23 97.73 98.48 35-39 96.75 97.03 98.28 98.86 40-44 95.89 96.53 97.67 98.56 45-49 93.56 94.78 95.89 97.29 50-54 84.40 89.31 91.15 92.69 55-59 67.85 77.53 81.98 84.14 60-64 43.39 56.41 62.43 66.05 65+ 17.31 27.77 28.82 33.17 Total 86.14 83.67 81.80 81.29 Source: See Table 3. Year Age 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 Source: See Table 3. 30 Table 5 Labor Force Participation Rates in Taiwan: Selected years for females, in percentages. 41.05 26.96 16.47 14.90 14.84 13.38 46.77 33.57 20.65 19.40 20.55 19.89 18.22 14.69 10.01 5.73 1.95 24.53 44.93 41.36 27.57 28.03 30.61 30.46 27.01 22.02 16.27 45.55 51.30 34.79 33.64 36.38 37.28 33.73 27.71 21.26 11.93 31 force by males according to age group; (b) the level of participation in the labor force by females according to age group: (c) the sex-age structure of the population (1964:49). Tables 4 and 5 show that labor force participation rates for males gradually declined from 86.14 percent to 81.29 percent while the rates for females during the same time period increased from 19.39 percent to 36.51 percent. Accordingly, the gradual increase of total participation rates in the labor force in Taiwan is due to the increasing participation of female workers, which compensates for the loss of male workers. Yet, the effects of the sex-age structure should not be forgotten. Due to insufficient data, it could not be concluded from the census data if female's participation rates in the labor force are affected by the sex-age structure of the population. Fortunately, Joseph Shing Lee (1975) computed both the demographic structure effect and LFPR12 effect during 1964-1974 period, by using data from Qggrtgrly_ggpgrt 93 333 L329; Eorce Survey in Taiwan. He concluded that LFPR effect was more significant in the course of female's participation in the labor force in Taiwan. Female labor force participation rates are associated with both the supply-side factors of individuals and the demand-side factors of the labor market. The following u Labor Force Participation Rate. 32 discussion of the relationships between age and female labor force participation rates attempts to present a picture of the entrance and/or withdrawal of females in different age brackets in the selected years for Taiwan. In Table 5 it was shown that labor force participation rates differ with age. In effect, one should be cautious in interpreting the results, because the age profile of labor force participation rates might be affected by variables other than age itself. For example, married women's participation rates were found to be affected by at least five other variables: permanent income, transitory income, wives' wage, number of children, and race (Lloyd, 1979:121). Figures 1 and 2 illustrate two different pictures of labor force participation for males and females. For the purpose of comparison, the life time of labor force participants is roughly divided into four stages depending on the degree of fluctuation occurring in age brackets: namely, 15-19, 20-24, 25-49, and 50+ age brackets. Participation rates of females aged 15-19 were the highest until 1975. And the female labor force participation rates, ranging from 41.05 in 1956 to 46.77 in 1966, were however quite stable during the time period covered by this paper. In comparison, male labor force participation rates declined rapidly from 77.48 in 1956 to 45.97 in 1975. Moreover, the decrease in the male labor force participation rates of the first age bracket (age 15-19) 33 could be explained as the result of more compulsory years of schooling as well as longer job training. To a lesser degree, females at these ages had access to school and job training programs: Nevertheless, the loss of that proportion of females was compensated by more and more young people receiving reimbursement for work outside the family, which the older generation of the same age did not have. Labor force participation rates for males in the 20-24 age bracket appeared very stable, whereas those for females with the same age increased dramatically. In 1956, 91.17 percent of the males in this age group were economically active, down to 83.38 percent in 1966, then increasing slowly to 87.03 percent in 1975. Usually, males reaching this stage of their life begin entering the labor market, and have rather high participation rates. In comparison, female labor force participation rates for the same age bracket experienced the sharpest growth. As a matter of fact, the proportion of females in this age group has the biggest share of the female labor force. In the third stage (age 25-49), male labor force participation rates remained very high and stable for each year. Most of the rates were over 90 percent. On the other hand, female participation rates for the age group 25-29 dropped quickly for the selected years. The rates remained almost the same for the next three age brackets in both 1956 and 1966, while the second peak of female labor force 94 Figure 1: Labor Force Participation Rates for Males: Selected Years . './//' N " l ' \\\\\ 2: Eu“ 2: l 1353 n . L i l l L L l l L l I F I I I I I r I I 15-19 Zt-Z-l 25-2! 30—31 35-3! fl-H 45-4: 50-54 55-53 SO-‘Il 6+ Source: See iablc 4. *Labor Force Participation Rate: :3 Figure 2: Labor Force Participation Rates for Females: Selected Years 1N LFPR“ 5. 2. 1. . l l l L l L i L L I I I I I I I T I tS-i! 20-21 25-23 30-34 35-3! 0-41 '15-'13 SO-S-i SS-S! fl-fl 65+ Source: 56: table 5. ‘Sco Figure 1. 36 participation took place in both 1970 and 1975. Females in this stage accounted for a substantial increase in the total labor force during 1956-1975. Among those age brackets, the age bracket of 40-44 has the fastest growth, showing 23.94 percent increase. By and large, the increasing rate of labor force participation by females aged between 35-49 contributes mostly to the changing pattern of female labor force. At the beginning of the fourth stage (age 50+), labor force participation rates for both males and females declined slightly, by about 5 percent for both sexes aged 50-54 in 1975. Then, the rates further dropped for both males and females in the next age bracket. Yet, labor force participation rates for females falling within those two age groups still enjoyed a faster growth than those for males during the time period of 1956-1975. Nevertheless, more females of this age group were working than ever before. Most females withdrew from the labor market before they are 60, compared to 66.05 percent of males who were still working beyond this age. The pattern of female labor force participation changed between 1966 and 1970, and the model of two peaks was witnessed afterwards. Male labor force participation rates continued dropping during 1956-1975 due to the vast majority of young males not entering the labor market, whether they 37 stayed in school13 or served in the armed forces. The entrance of females into the labor market compensated for the loss of young males. In general, the growing demand of the labor market seemed to induce this change. Total labor force participation rates, taken as an indicator of demand of the labor market, was increasing. Furthermore, the female labor force participation rate was increasing faster in relation to the male rate during the same time period. Employment by Occupation Ten broadly classified occupations were found in the 1956 census, including one labeled as "occupations that cannot be classified". In the 1975 census, the sixth, seventh, and eighth occupations which were Mining & related, Operatives of transportation, and Craftsman & coolies respectively, were lumped together, and were no longer computed separately. Accordingly, seven occupational groups are displayed in Table 6 the "unclassified jobs" category is simply dismissed. In the Table 6, the first column (1956) shows a fairly low percentage of female workers in all seven of the occupations, and suggests the presence of a predominantly B Greenhlagh argued that young males were encouraged by parents to stay in school due to family survival strategies. Whereas, young females were more likely to work outside the home. male labor force in Taiwan. 38 Of the seven occupations, the category "Service worker" is found to have the highest percentage of female workers, followed by Professional, technical & related workers, then by Farm, forestry, livestock, fishery & hunting workers. occupational groups could be regarded as "female Hence, these three occupations" due to their high percentages of female workers. Table 6 Females' Share of Employment by Occupationzl956-1975 Females as a % Ranking of all employees Changes Occupation 1956 1975 1956 1975 Prof., technical 26.31 34.05 7.74 2 2 & related worker Admi., execu.& 7.50 11.72 4.22 7 7 managerial Clerical workers 12.64 40.42 17.78 5 1 Sales workers 13.10 30.52 17.42 4 4 Service worker 28.57 13.82 -14.75 1 6 Farm, forestry, 20.05 33.13 13.08 3 3 livestock pro., fishery & hunting worker Worker in pro., 11.23 27.86 16.63 6 5 operatives of transport Source: Data are from Table 34, the 1956 census, and Table 27, the 1975 census. 39 However, among these three female occupations, the figure for the occupations of Professional, technical & related worker is somewhat misleading. A detailed break down of the data showed that female teachers constituted over half the total in this occupational group. It was hard to find a woman working as a writer, lawyer, or technician, which are jobs also included in this category. Moreover, women were clearly excluded from the other four occupational categories which have only approximately ten percent female workers. Of those occupations, the category of "Administration, executives & managerial" has the lowest percentage of female workers, 7.50 percent, followed by workers in production, operatives of transportion, clerical workers, and sales workers. The second column in Table 6 shows a dramatic change in , all occupations except for the first two categories. 2*6 Females have a very high share of employment except in the occupations of Administrator, executive & managerial, and Service worker. As a result, the occupations of Sales workers and Clerical worker had also been converted into female occupations. It is worthwhile to note the negative growth for females' share of employment in the occupation of 3+’ Service worker during 1956-1975. The inclusion of a large number of soldiers in the census largely deflates the percentage of female workers in the occupation. 40 It seems reasonable to say that the labor market was more relaxed in the 19703 than in the 19503. However, for the highly respected occupations such as professional and technical workers, women still suffered from low participation rates and were concentrated in a few types of jobs. In 1975 female teachers, for example, still accounted for more than half the total number of females in the occupation of Professional, technical & related workers. Employment By Industry Since the last three censuses use either two-digit or three-digit job classifications, more detailed data could be found in the last three censuses rather than the first one. For the purpose of comparison, data from the 1956 and 1975 censuses are adjusted in Table 7 to demonstrate females' shares of employment by industry for selected years. Initially, nine broadly classified industries were used in the 1956 census, including the category of "others". From the second census onwards, finance, insurance, realty, and bus service were distinguished from commerce, and were separately computed. However, in Table 7 these two categories have been grouped together again. Also, water & public sanitation was a subordinate category of water, gas, electricity, and public sanitation in the 1956 census. In the 1975 census, environmental sanitation was put under the category of community & personal service. However, this 41 change was not readjusted in Table 7 due to the small number employees in the category. Further, attention should be drawn to the inclusion of two new categories, national defense service and employees of international institutions & foreign institution in ROC. The inclusion of these two categories deflates females' share in the Service industry as was the case in the analysis of female employment by occupation. In Table 7 the first column (1956) shows that females had the biggest share of employment in the category of Community, social & personal service, 19.42 percent, followed by Agriculture, forestry, fishery, livestock & hunting, and by Manufacturing. Detailed data analy§i§ further suggests that in th§§g_three industries women are particularly concentrated in Agriculture & livestock, Textile, and Domestic service respectively. Additionally, fl W females were also seriously underrepresented in the other five industries, making up 11.74 percent in Commerce, 10.17 percent in Mining & quarrying, 5.42 percent in Transport, storage & communication, 5.09 percent in Electricity, gas & water, and 1.92 percent in Construction. In 1975 the census data suggested, on the other hand, that there were significant changes in females' share of employment in three industries. These were: Agriculture, forestry/fishery, livestock & hunting, Manufacturing, and 42 Table 7 Females' Shares of Employment by Industry: 1956-1975, in percentages. Females as a % Ranking Industry of all employees Changes 1956 1975 1956 1975 Agri., forestry, 18.26 32.97 14.71 2 3 fishery, livestock hunting Mining & 10.17 12.96 2.79 5 5 quarrying Manufacturing 16.60 37.18 20.58 3 1 Elec., gas & 5.09 10.72 5.63 7 7 water Construction 1.92 5.72 3.80 8 8 Commerce 11.74 33.20 21.46 4 2 Transport, 5.42 12.72 7.30 6 6 storage & communication Community, 19.42 21.35 1.93 1 4 social & personal service Source: The 1956 and 1975 censuses. Commerce. Each of these categories had more than 20 percent increases. Community, social & personal service, although, grew only 1.93 percent. Given the inclusion of a large number of soldiers in this category, however, women in this 43 industry might also have a substantial share of employment. Therefore, as far as females' share of employment is concerned, females were better represented in these four industries. However, most women were still crowded into a few subordinate industries like Textiles, Retailing, and Community & domestic service. Meanwhile, females' share of employment in the other four industries seemed to remain very low, and had few changes. As a result, the ranking among those seven industries between 1956 and 1975 was quite stable. Lee (1975) suggested that there is an economic explanation for this finding. He contended that intra- industry shift is responsible for the rapid increase of females' share of employment during 1956-1975. Employment Status Employment status is one of two measures recommended by the United Nations to assess women's location in the production system. In the four censuses the following standard status classification were used: employer: self- employed: family worker without pay: non-government employee: and government employee. Realistically, respondents might have several employment statuses, which may result in confusion for respondents answering, and which could systematically inflate and/or deflate certain categories. For example, a woman could be self-employed as 44 well as being a family worker without pay. Therefore, the capacity of interpretation of Table 8 is somewhat quite limited as long as these weaknesses have not been addressed. Nonetheless, Table 8 shows that the percentage of men and women in both the category of Self-employed and Family worker without pay had declined significantly over time. As far as women were concerned, most of them were found in private enterprises. The category of Non-government employee had nearly a 22 percent increase. The biggest change occurred between the first two censuses. Female non- government employees jumped from 20.14 percent in 1956 to 31.91 percent in 1966. And between 1970 and 1975, the category had another sharp growth, from 31.29 percent to 42.04 percent respectively. Whereas, Self-employed females and Female family workers declined significantly, -4.21 percent and -18.83 percent respectively. Regarding men's mobility, private enterprise was also a top preference, having a 13.4 percent increase from 1956 to 1975. Unlike women, male Governmental employees also had a 8.65 percent growth. The shift of employment status by sex might imply changes in industrial structure as well as women's position in production. As Taiwan's industries continued their modernization, one could certainly witness the expansion of modern sectors. Meanwhile, women were driven into the labor market by the capitalist economy, and 45 were no longer confined to the home. Hence, female Non- government employees, instead of family Unpaid workers, had the largest share of female employment. Table 8 Employment Status by sex: selected years in percentages. 1956 1966 1970 1975 M 3.56 3.03 3.85 4.51 Employer F 1.74 1.98 2.20 2.14 Self- M 39.79 29.08 29.11 25.90 employed F 16.39 16.99 15.32 12.18 Family worker M 18.36 13.36 9.87 9.24 without pay F 51.47 37.60 39.53 32.64 Non-government M 21.59 27.85 29.54 34.99 employee F 20.14 31.91 31.29 42.04 Government M 16.69 26.68 27.63 25.34 employee F 10.27 11.02 11.32 10.99 Source: From the 1956, 1966, 1970, and 1975 censuses. Education in the Changing World Traditionally, Chinese cultural notions have emphasized the physical differences between the sexes, and created a number of myths about women. "Woman" has been the symbol of 46 vital source, devil beauty, weakness, mystery, and inferiority. In Han dynasty, various institutionalized restrictions were imposed on women. In the Ming dynasty women were further discouraged to develop their abilities except those related to household work (Liu, 1983:17). Traditionally, Chinese women were deprived of the right to learn. This ideology was often manifested in classic novels where the leading character was a prostitute, who was also known as a poet. Undoubtedly, the forlorn experience of prostitutes and the image of the female poet were accordingly linked together. It was not until the establishment of the Republic of China in 1911 that the Constitution began protecting women's right to learn. Nevertheless, in the early 19303, Normand has suggested that a backlash from a neo-Confucian revival was initiated. According to Normand, the aim of the movement was a "social regeneration of China" through a revival of the moral principles of "11, 21, 1133, and ghi", literally, "propriety, justice, honesty, and self-respect" (Normand, 1975:8). It was argued that the emphasis of the movement was on the patriarchal family and male supremacy. Yet, Normand seemed to suggest that the right of women to learn was encouraged in the movement. She cited Madame Chiang's position that the education and health of a nation's women were a measure of "civilization" (1975:9). However, different treatment was accorded to members of each 47 of the genders. Boys and girls were urged to be trained differently, and educated, able women encouraged to engage in public service "consistent with those duties that embrace the care of their home" (Diamond, 1975:9). As industrialization continued, the importance of education was recognized by the government, as well as the general public. As for the government, the upgrading of labor power through further education was seen as essential to meet the demand of the growing economy. In 1968, nine years of compulsory education was implemented. At this time, the general public also recognized the importance of education for their children. Farris' review (1968) suggests that in the late 19503, even the most conservative farm families thought primary school, and learning to read and write was proper for both boys and girls. Nevertheless, better education for women was not thoroughly supported for various reasons (1986:5). It was during the next two decades that the need for better education was acknowledged. The purpose of women's education was seen as transcending the basic acquisition of knowledge and skills. Eeducation was seen as serving as a screening tool for employment and thus served an important social and economic function in developing Taiwan. Therefore, in this time period most people began pursuing better education. In the following section, various data are presented to examine women's educational status. 48 School Enrollment In this section, Census data on enrollment in all levels of school have been used to examine access to education. In Table 9, data on enrollment by sex are also broken down by level of school. In 1956 the number of students enrolled in all levels of school was 1,669,817, of which 715,243 were female, accounting for 42.83 percent. In 1966 the share of enrollment for females increased by 2.56 percent. The share barely changed in 1974 (0.40 %). Partitioning the enrollment data by level of school and sex seems to support Farris's position that primary school and learning to read and write was considered proper for both boys and girls in the late 19503. Census data show that relatively high percentages of young females enrolled in Pre-school and Primary school, 43.76 and 45.82 respectively at that time period. However, sex discrimination against females in having access to education is also revealed given that females had the lower share of total enrollments at the top two levels. Gallin's work (1983:387) revealed that parents harbored some ambivalence about both the value and the costs of education for girls. Moreover, parents with limited resources tended to sacrifice their daughters's education in order to raise the level of their sons's (Greenhalgh, 1985:282). For example, the prevention of females from entering Secondary 49 school and above was more pronounced. Females accounted for only 29.94 percent of the total enrollment in Secondary school, and 17.23 percent in Junior college and above. The only exception was that females' enrollment in teacher- training programs exceeded males, which might be due to the fact that no tuition fee was required and allowances were issued. In the mid-19603 more females were found enrolling in higher educational institutions. Greenhalgh (1985:286) argued that the bulk of the jobs for women in this period were factory assembly jobs, which required junior high school certificates, thus the need for better education became stronger on the part of females. Table 9 demostrates that the enrollment for females in the second level increased substantially, 39.25 percent in 1966 compared to 29.94 percent in 1956. Surprisingly, females in the third level had an even faster rate of growth, from 17.23 percent in 1956 to 32.13 percent in 1966. This trend seemed to continue into the 19703. The rates for females at all levels were 46.25, 48.60, 43.91, and 36.26 percent respectively in the 19703. Overall, sex discrimination against female's access to education still prevailed at all levels in 1974. Futhermore, the higher the level of the educational institution, the more uncommon females were. Nevertheless, Table 9 Females as a Percentage of the Total Students: 50 Selected Years 1956 1966 1974 Level & type 715,243 1,468,854 2,654,597 42.83% 45.39% 45.79% 1 23,734 36,707 50,734 43.76% 45.30% 46.25% 2* 612,108 1,099,254 1,161,807 45.82% 47.94% 48.60% 3** 72,833 279,397 626,131 29.94% 39.25% 43.91% 4 55,166 218,907 508,938 32.37% 37.66% 43.54% 5 14,497 58,963 116,234 22.00% 46.10% 45.49% 6 3,170 1,527 959 45.71% 59.37% 63.51% 7*** 3,896 36,577 102,318 17.23% 32.13% 36.26% 8 278 773 1,155 33.86% 36.50% 40.61% 9 2,394 16,146 86,321 18.61% 47.31% 54.13% Source: Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of China, 1975. 1. Pre-school 2. lst level 3. 2nd level 4. General 5. Vocational 6. Teacher 7. 3rd level 8. Special 9. Others * Primary Schools ** Secondary Schools *** Colleges and Junior Colleges opportunities for females to receive education were more open in the 19703 than in the 19503. Females were only slightly discriminated against in Pre-school and the Primary level, although, in the secondary level and the post secondary or college level, females had a much lower share of enrollment. However, the increasing access of females to education was gradually occurring at these levels. 51 Literacy Rate The literate population in the four censuses is comprised of both those who are self-educated and those who have received formal education. In Table 10, literacy rates are computed and adjusted from the 1956 and 1975 censuses by using the following formula: the number of literate persons aged 15 and over of each sex was divided by the total number of people aged 15 and over of that sex. As might be expected, literacy rates for both sexes increased during the two decades studied, and the "gap" between the sexes was narrowing. In 1956, the literacy rate for males was 70.15 percent, as compared to 37.66 percent for females. In 1975 the rates were 92.39 and 74.56 percent respectively. Although, the gap between both sexes was still 17.83 percent in 1975, the literacy for females apparently increased more rapidly than males. In fact, the literacy rate for females more than doubled, and this phenomenon appeared to be the case for all age groups. Table 10 also suggests that most of the males and females born after the Second World War are literate. Because the gap between the sexes is so small, it seems unnecessary to partition literacy by sex for the post-war 52 Table 10 Literacy Rates for Selected Years Year 1956 1975 Sex Male Female Male Female Age 15-19 85.61 61.52 99.59 98.16 20-24 85.55 60.10 99.47 96.18 25-29 81.92 48.48 99.10 91.81 30-34 76.72 38.60 97.55 81.26 35-39 69.61 28.89 93.76 71.26 40-44 63.08 21.51 93.31 67.12 45-49 54.56 13.61 93.15 54.82 50-54 44.78 8.01 86.97 42.61 55-59 37.26 5.32 77.42 32.43 60-64 32.03 3.49 67.01 21.09 65+ 27.58 1.96 48.72 8.93 Total 70.15 37.66 92.39 74.56 Source: Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of China, 1976. generation. For example, in the 1975 census both men and women in the first three age groups, who received their formal education some time between 1952 and 1968, enjoyed literacy rates over 90 percent. And the gap between the sexes in the 15-19 age bracket is as small as 0.43 percent. 53 Sex Differences in the Distribution of Graduates by Field The educational system in Taiwan consists of schools of various types and levels. Because both male and female students in the primary level are taking similar educational curricula, my focus therefore will be placed on vocational education and higher education. In this section, gender differences in vocational education, then higher education, are discussed. Vocational education is aimed at providing students with skill and knowledge regarding the production of goods. In Taiwan, the system of vocational education at the secondary level includes both junior vocational schools and senior vocational schools. Table 11 was compiled to display which subjects male and female vocational school graduates were majoring in during their schooling years. Hence, graduates were classified into different fields by sex in 1956 and 1975. Due to the lack of some data in the censuses, comparisons are limited to those data that were available. Junior Vocational Education In 1956, males who received a diploma from junior vocational schools were mainly in the fields of Business, Engineering, and Agriculture. Specifically, more than half the male students majored in Agriculture, which corresponded with the importance of agriculture in the economy at that 54 time. Thus, male graduates in other fields accounted for only a small proportion of the total number of male graduates. Females graduates from vocational schools constituted about 16 percent of male graduates, and were mostly concentrated in Business and Agriculture. Since 73.27 percent of the females were majoring in Business, and 18.16 percent of the females were in Agriculture, it was hard to find many females in any other fields. As a result, Engineering, Military, and Police were nearly exclusively male-dominated. However, more females than males were found in the category of Medicine. Yet, this is misleading unless we realize that Nursing accounts for the majority of the students in this category. In 1975, changes in the industrial structure seemed to bring about a re-distribution of vocational graduates among the fields. The number of graduates from Agriculture had been declining as expected. On the part of males, the move was into Business and Engineering, whereas, females were flowing into Home Economics. Compared to 1956, the tracking of females into household-related fields had not improved. While males dominated Engineering, Agriculture, and Aquaculture, female graduates were found more often in such categories as Business, Medical (Nursing), and Home Economics. 55 Table 11 Sex Distribution by Field: Junior Vocational Education, in percentages 1956 1975 M F Ratio* M F Ratio* Business 28.25 73.27 42.23 33.92 72.34 108.11 Eng. 19.35 1.64 1.39 23.07 2.12 4.66 Agr. 51.06 18.16 5.79 40.04 5.91 7.48 Medical 0.06 6.70 1,600.00 0.04 2.62 3,613.63 Military 0.39 0.06 2.36 n.a. n.a. n.a. Police 0.88 0.14 2.50 n.a n.a. n.a. Aqua. n.a. n.a. n.a. 2.90 0.32 5.54 Home Eco. n.a. n.a. n.a. 0.03 16.69 28,088.89 Source: The 1956 and 1975 censuses. * Ratio = (the percentage of females / the percentages of males) x 100. n.a. = not available. Senior Vocational Education In 1956, the number of females who graduated from Senior Vocational Schools was about 17 percent of the number of male graduates. The only category where the number of female graduates surpassed that of male graduates was Medical. Again, this was due to the fact that almost all of the female graduates in this category were from the Nursing school. As for males, more than 93 percent of them were found in Engineering or Agriculture. 56 Table 12 Sex Distribution by Field: Senior Vocational Education, in percentages 1956 1975 Level and type of education M F Ratio* M F Ratio* Business 5.96 56.09 21.02 24.56 80.67 226.25 Engineering 50.09 1.74 0.59 57.68 5.02 6.00 Agriculture 43.29 2.76 1.09 13.21 1.73 9.01 Medical 0.62 39.44 1077.53 0.08 5.02 4257.49 Aquaculture n.a. n.a. n.a. 4.45 0.36 5.55 Home Eco. n.a. n.a. n.a. 0.03 7.20 16123.53 Source: The 1956 and 1975 censuses. * See Table 11 for the calculation of the Ratio. In comparison, more than 95 percent of the females were concentrated in either Business and Medicine. As was the case in junior vocational education, the percentage of male graduates in the category of Agriculture sharply declined in 1975, and more males were found in Business and Engineering. For females, the percentage of graduates in the Medical field had the largest decline. Women were moving into Business (80.67), Engineering (5.02), and Home Economics (7.20). 57 Although the percentage of female graduates in Engineering experienced a 3.28 percent growth, the gap between the sexes in this field was, in effect, widened compared to that in 1956. Therefore, it could be said that senior vocational education was more accessible to females in the latter years; however, the exclusion of females from particular fields like Engineering was still pronounced. Higher Education The Higher Education system in Taiwan is comprised of graduate programs, colleges, and junior colleges. In 1946, there was only one university, and three colleges in Taiwan. Accordingly, the total number of students was relatively small, merely 2,983 each year. However, by 1968 Higher Education had become more highly developed. The number of Higher Education institutions increased to 85, and as a result, the number of college students increased more rapidly than the other categories of education“. Junior Colleges Table 13 shows that in 1956 the number of female Junior College graduates was approximately 14 percent of the male graduates. The first column indicates that there were four fields having a share of 10 percent or more of the total u See "Education and Culture", tat t c o the Republic of China, 1975, DGBAS, Executive Yuan, ROC. 58 number of males. Among the four fields, 28.72 percent of males were found in Engineering, 23.01 percent in Arts and Letters, 18.60 percent in Social Science, and 11.22 percent in Medicine. Additionally, 9.77 percent were in Law, 6.39 percent in Agriculture, and 2.29 percent in Natural Sciences. Table 13 Sex Distribution by Field: Junior Colleges, in percentages. Field 1956 1970 M F Ratio* M F Ratio* Art 23.01 65.71 40.93 10.80 22.35 84.06 Law 9.77 5.49 8.05 1.26 0.44 14.22 Social 18.60 18.75 14.45 43.84 59.72 55.33 Science Natural 2.29 1.54 9.66 1.04 0.54 20.91 Sc1ence Eng. 28.72 3.65 1.82 28.50 2.58 3.68 Agri. 6.39 2.91 6.54 4.95 1.40 11.49 Med. 11.22 1.94 2.48 9.61 12.97 54.82 Source: The 1956 and 1970 censuses. * See Table 11 for the calculation of this Ratio. 59 If we regroup the seven fields into Social Sciences and related, and Natural Sciences and related”, males were evenly distributed in these two broader categories. That is, 51.30 percent of the males were in Social Sciences and related, and 48.70 percent in Natural Sciences and related fields. On the other hand, females seemed to be concentrated in the Social Sciences and related fields. If we group female graduates into those two categories, not surprisingly, an extremely high percentage of females graduates were found in the Social Science and related fields (89.95 percent). In 1970, Social Science had the highest percentage of males, 43.84 percent. Although, the percentage of males in the Natural Sciences and related fields was declining, the main increase in the Social Sciences, however, was from losses in the field of Arts and Letters. Hence, there was still 44.10 percent of the males in the Natural Sciences and related fields, and the percentage of male graduates in Engineering remained almost the same (28.50 percent in 1970 compared to 28.72 percent in 1956). Compared to the male graduates, females were found mostly in the Social Sciences. However, the percentage of female graduates from the Social Science and related fields 5 The category of Social Sciences and related fields includes Arts, Law, and Social science. The category of Natural Sciences and related fields refers to Natural Science, Engineering, Agriculture, and Medicine. 60 declined to 81.79 percent, and the Natural Sciences and related fields, especially Medicine, had a substantial gain. Nevertheless, it should not be forgotten that a good portion of female Medical graduates were in fact from the Nursing School. College and Graduate Programs In 1956, the total number of male graduates from this level of school was 55,439 while the number of female graduates was 10,331. Thus, female graduates were only 18.63 percent of the male total. As a result of more females entering higher education, by 1970, female graduates as a percent of male graduates increased to almost 40 percent. The first column of Table 14 illustrates that 25.35 percent of male graduates were from Law School, followed by Arts and Letters (19.94 percent), Engineering (18.69 percent) and Social Science (11.27 percent). Also, Medicine, Agriculture, and Natural Science had 9.52, 8.27, and 6.97 percent of the male graduates respectively. Accordingly, we can see 56.56 percent of male graduates were in the Social Science and related fields, and 44.44 percent were in the Natural Science and related fields. 61 Table 14 Sex Distribution by Field: College, in percentages. Years 1956 1970 Field M F Ratio* M F Ratio* Arts 19.94 49.40 46.18 17.95 37.57 83.23 Law 25.35 17.48 12.85 5.94 2.91 19.46 Social 11.27 6.29 10.40 32.49 40.09 49.07 Sc1ence Natural 6.97 9.24 24.72 8.51 6.82 31.87 Science Eng. 18.69 3.05 3.04 22.05 2.40 4.32 Agri. 8.27 6.25 14.09 5.33 3.54 26.41 Medical 9.52 8.28 16.20 7.77 6.68 34.37 Source: Computed from the 1956 and 1970 censuses. * See Table 11 for the calculation of the Ratio. In comparison, women were primarily concentrated in Arts and Law. Hence, a higher proportion of female graduates were from the Social Sciences and related fields, 73.17 percent: and a considerably lower percentage of female graduates was found in the Natural Sciences and related fields, only 26.82 percent. In 1970, more male and female graduates were found in the Social Sciences than in 1956. In effect, the shares of the fields of the Arts, Law, Medical and Agriculture were shrinking. Meanwhile, when we again group both male and 62 female graduates into the two broadly based categories, we find that the proportion of male graduates from these two categories remains about the same, whereas the percentage of female graduates from the Social Sciences and related fields becomes larger. Additionally, it should be noted that the percentage of female graduates from the Natural Sciences and Engineering declined while that of the male graduates increased. WOMEN'S STATUS AT HOME The Chinese family traditionally has been structured along hierarchical lines. Since the family is considered the basic unit of the larger social context, the hierarchical relationships are accordingly extended to other social and political institutions. In order to understand Chinese society, many research topics have revolved around the family system, specifically, the vertical descent line and father-son relationships. Given that the family system is seen as the core of the Chinese society, the elucidation of Chinese women's status in the home inevitably involves a discussion of the family system. An important aspect of the Chinese family is the maintenance of the descent line. This is in order to transfer resources so as to maintain the families class position or to expand the family's productivity. Therefore, 63 Lin (1988) contended that the family system can be analyzed in terms of what rules it uses to transfer resources, by which he means two things: authority and property. Lin argued that traditionally in the Chinese family, the authority transfer took priority over the resources (1988: 75). Symbolically, the successor is the eldest son and this is manifested in the ritual of ancestor worship. Furthermore, a principle responsibility of the eldest son is to assure the continuation of the descent line. Other sons also have the responsibility of succeeding. Lin noted that the authority is transferred to the eldest son while the property is divided among all the sons (1988:78). However, the property is divided unequally among sons. The eldest son normally has the largest share. Daughters, on the other hand, were traditionally supposed to marry out, and were then expected to be loyal to their husband's family. Therefore, daughters were not recognized as permanent members of their natal family but rather as "belonging to other people" (Kung, 1983:7). Since daughters are not considered permanent members of their natal family, they do not have the same responsility of maintaining the family's descent line and taking care of their parents as their brothers do. Daughters are deprived of the right to inherit their parents'property except if they are unmarried, divorced or widowed, and have the consent of the sons or the mother (Lin, 1988:79). In most 64 cases, families are inclined to view a daughter's dowry not just as a drain on the holdings of her father, but on those of her brothers as well (Kung, 1983:9). While the hierarchical authority of the father over his sons and other members of the family is clear, the eldest son does not have authority over his brothers. All sons are indeed subservient to the father prior to the division of the family or death of the father. Hence, a centralized and bi-level authority structure can be witnessed in the Chinese family. In other words, the entire family structure and network is centered around the father, the sons being satellites (Lin, 1988:81). Confucianism serves as, if not creates, a basic code defining the proper relationships between persons at various levels within the social hierarchy. Gallin (1986) maintained that the roots anchoring this hierarchy were the mores of filial piety and the veneration of age. Both principles serve as forms of social control, perpetuating the family and the domination of the young by the old. Under these principles, the oldest males have the highest status: women's status, although it increases with age and with the birth of sons, is lower than that of any man. The desires of women are subjugated to those of men, just as the wishes of the young are subjugated to those of the old. The older generation socializes women from birth to accept their 65 "inferiority" and "subordination" to males and to observe the "three obediences" to parents, husband, and sons (Gallin, 1986:34). Thus, reproductive capacity largely defines a woman's status. Women are brought into the family for the purpose of bearing and rearing a new generation. As she gives birth to children, a woman establishes some personal security within her husband's household, and she becomes entitled to economic support (Kung, 1983:10). In traditional Chinese society, the physical differences between males and females are converted into the sexual division of labor. The home is defined as women's place, and the value of women lies in their ability to produce sons to continue the descent line. Boys and girls are, therefore, treated quite differently in the family. Shih (1984) points out that parental expectations for boys and girls are reflected in their choice of names for their children. Girls are given names meaning "refined and gracious", "harmony and virtue", "graceful and beautiful", while boys are given names meaning "strength and success", "loyal and sincere", and glorifying ancestors (Shih, 1984:217, Antino, 1981:10). When children of both sexes grow up, they are expected to work in the home. However, girls assume more responsibilities than boys. Gallin (1984) has contended that this differential treatment was to better prepare a woman by 66 socializing her to be an able worker, submissive daughter- in-law, and obedient wife. In traditional Chinese society, children of both sexes have no control over their marriages. After marriage, a daughter-in-law, as a stranger in her husband's family, is immediately burdened with housework while the husband is given more freedom. Thus, in general, Chinese women are expected to produce and reproduce family members in serving the need of the patriarchal family. Women are trained to become hard workers and subservient daughters-in-law. As mothers-in-law play an important part as the overseers and representatives of the patriarchal family. They give up their own desires to help ensure the future success of their brothers and their family. Hence, daughters are taught to be willing to sacrifice themselves to raise their brother's education. This can be exemplified by Diamond's description of female workers' wish that if they had had more control over their lives, they would have at least finished junior high school; they would have sought white-collar jobs for themselves (Diamond, 1979:328). For married women, they must be willing to accept the double burden of wage labor and housewifery. However, the Government has taken over many traditional family responsibilities pertaining to public security, school, and other institutions since 1945. Taiwanese 66 socializing her to be an able worker, submissive daughter- in-law, and obedient wife. In traditional Chinese society, children of both sexes have no control over their marriages. After marriage, a daughter-in-law, as a stranger in her husband's family, is immediately burdened with housework while the husband is given more freedom. Thus, in general, Chinese women are expected to produce and reproduce family members in serving the need of the patriarchal family. Women are trained to become hard workers and subservient daughters-in-law. As mothers-in-law play an important part as the overseers and representatives of the patriarchal family. They give up their own desires to help ensure the future success of their brothers and their family. Hence, daughters are taught to be willing to sacrifice themselves to raise their brother's education. This can be exemplified by Diamond's description of female workers' wish that if they had had more control over their lives, they would have at least finished junior high school; they would have sought white-collar jobs for themselves (Diamond, 1979:328). For married women, they must be willing to accept the double burden of wage labor and housewifery. However, the Government has taken over many traditional family responsibilities pertaining to public security, school, and other institutions since 1945. Taiwanese 67 society has undergone dramatic changes as a result of rapid modernization and industrialization and the Government's growing role in social affairs. Diamond (1979) presents a detailed account of the legal and social changes that have been generated by the rise of capitalist, industrialized society. In Taiwan, as she suggests, women have received the right to own property, the right to seek divorce, the right to vote and to stand for election to public office, access to at least a primary school education, and of course the increased opportunity to work outside the domestic sphere. Changing social mores have raised the age at which people expect to marry, and young people are allowed more of a choice in that decision (1979:318). As a result, daughters are no longer regarded as merely a commodity on which the family's investment is lost. Diamond has argued in effect that daughters are at some point in the family cycle more useful than are their brothers, who are students, soldiers, or unpaid craft apprentices (Diamond, 1979:333). Furthermore, daughters-in- law, as argued by Gallin (1986), are secure emotionally as well as economically, and may have a better position than their mothers-in-law. In other words, a shift of power between generations has been taking place. The Household Burden The participation of females in the labor market has increased ever since Taiwan's economy became part of the global market. As demonstrated earlier in this paper, labor 68 force participation rates for females increased substantially from 19.39 percent to 36.51 percent during 1956-1975. For many reasons, women may drop out of the labor market and become non-economically active. Yet, the home is defined as "women's place", the "value" of women still lies in their ability to maintain the household and especially, to produce sons to continue the descent line in Chinese society. Table 15 is used to illustrate changes in the pressure of household responsibilities put on women in the selected years. While the labor force had been growing, so has the share of the potential labor force in the non-economically active population. In 1956, 60.76 percent of the non- economically active male population were potential members of the labor force. The percentages found in 1966 and 1975 were already 73.94 and 72.66 respectively. For females, the percentages of potential labor force members in the non- economically active population were much higher than males' for the respective years. Accordingly, in spite of the increase in the percentages of the potential labor force for females, the percentages were relatively stable. 69 Table 15 Reasons for Being Non-economically Active Potential Labor Attending School** Keeping House*** Force* Year M F M F M F 1956 60.76 90.84 80.31 6.03 8.32 91.26 1966 73.94 91.72 91.13 15.74 2.82 83.02 1975 72.66 93.45 88.85 16.50 3.00 82.82 Source: Computed from the 1956, 1966, and 1975 censuses. * As a percent of non-economically active. ** As a percent of potential labor force. *** As a percent of potential labor force. As shown in Table 15, most women dropped out of the labor market to engage in housekeeping, while for men the reason was to attend school. The result seemed to be consistent with traditional Chinese attitudes regarding men and women. Although the percentage of women not in the labor force because of housekeeping responsibilities had dropped as attending school became an important reason, the pressure placed on women because of housework still persisted. In 1976, housekeeping still accounted for 82.82 percent of females pulling out of the labor market. As a matter of fact, housekeeping as a reason given for men leaving the labor force also become less important. One of the reasons was attributed to the presence of a 7O "prerogative parent", that is, a mother-in-law who assumed some of the traditional roles played by daughters-in-law. Therefore, the pressure put on women of household duties was not reduced but transferred from one generation to another generation, particularly at the expense of the mothers-in- law. Number of Children Wanted The relationship between economic development and fertility behavior has been somewhat controversial. The classic approach has placed primary emphasis on economic and structural changes as the preconditions for fertility declines (Coombs, 1981:1231). However, recently this has been challenged. Coombs and Hsieh, using female employment as a potentially important factor in examining reproductive behavior in Taiwan, found that "its influence was relatively modest in comparison to other social and demographic [factors]" (1983:315). No matter what the relationship might be, the presence of a newborn is likely to be aburden for women, distracting their attention from work. Since, traditional Chinese family values emphasize large numbers of children, especially sons, it is important to monitor changes in traditional values which dictate fertility behavior. 71 Table 16 Mean Preferred Number of Children for Married Women Aged 22-39 Mean preferred number of children Year 1965 1970 1976 Age 22-24 3.7 3.6 2.7 25-29 3.8 3.6 2.7 30-34 4.0 3.8 3.0 35-39 4.3 4.1 3.2 Total 4.0 3.8 2.9 Source: Chang, Freedman, and Sun, 1987 In Table 16, the number of children wanted has changed over time. The younger generation prefers fewer children than the older generation, and the mean preferred number of children for married women of various age groups has declined since 1965. Specifically, dramatic changes occurred between 1970 and 1976, when the preferred number of children dropped from 3.8 to 2.9. Although the preferred number of children might be different from the actual number of children an average woman has, the decrease in the number of children wanted indicates changes in familial values in the 19603 and 19703. In fact, women might be expected to spend less time engaged in childbearing responsibilities. 72 Security in Old Age and Male Child Preference Until the 19703, patrilineality and patrilocality were still the characteristics of marriage in the Taiwanese society. Furthermore, Coombs and Sun (1987) argued that the traditional Chinese family system characterized by patrilineality, patrilocality, and patriarchy, engendered a high dependency on sons in old age. Consequently, in 1973, 54 percent of the women with three children but no sons wanted additional births: only 1 percent of those with two sons did" (Coombs and Sun, 1981:237). However, economic development has brought about some changes in familial values. Table 17 shows that during the time period of 1965-1973, the proportion of women who expected to live with their sons in their old age dropped from 94 percent to 54 percent. Additionally, the percentage of women who expected to be supported by their children also declined from 77 percent to 52 percent. Apparently, the value of sons for aging parents had been subjectively decreasing, and to some extent, recent generations of parents have had a feeling of uncertainty regarding household arrangements which their parents never had. However, male preference was still common in the 19703 because of the patriarchal familial values. Additionally, a poorly-established welfare system seemed to contributed to the importance of sons in parent's old age, which may help perpetuate women's inferior status. 73 Table 17 Expectations for Living and Financial Support in Old Age, by Education and Urbanization: Taiwan, 1970-73 in percentages. Percent Expecting to: Be Supported by Children Wife's Education Live with Sons in Old Age in Old Age and Residence 1965 1967 1970 1973 1970 1973 Total 94 87 73 54 77 52 No education 99 94 83 70 91 75 Primary 93 89 74 54 78 51 Junior high 82 54 45 35 48 9 Senior high 66 44 25 18 21 6 or more Rural township 99 93 80 62 87 69 Urban township 93 84 72 56 75 54 Small city 96 85 60 42 73 35 Large city 87 80 61 48 64 38 Source: Coombs and Sun, "Familial Values in a Developing Society: A Decade of Change in Taiwan, 1981". CONCLUSION The development of Taiwan's economy started with its successful land reform in the late 19503 and the early 19603. Through the state's policies of protectionism, and surplus extraction from agriculture to industry, Taiwan began to pave a path for its further development. During 74 this period, the culturally-defined sex roles were quite rigid, men and women were largely segregated into different jobs. According to the 1956 census, the labor force participation rate for females was 19.39. Clearly, the home was primarily defined as "women's place", and women were brought into the family mainly for the continuation of the descent line. In comparison, men were the primary "breadwinners", and dominated the waged work sector. The hierarchical relationships between men and women were also evident. Men in fact benefited materially, culturally and socially from women's labor. Women were brought into home mainly for the continuation of the family line. Overall, the status of daughters-in-law lay in reproducing family members to meet the needs of the patriarchal family. Meanwhile, mothers-in- law acted as the overseer and representative of the patriarchal family vis-a-vis their daughters-in-law. As far as children's education was concerned in the 19503, most parents thought that basic knowledge and learning to read and write was appropriate. Hence, we see that most girls at least had finished primary school. However, at this time parents harbored some ambivalence about both the value and the costs of education for girls. The further transformation of Taiwan's economy was not achieved until the adoption of an export-oriented strategy in 1960 in which labor-intensive techniques were used in 75 most of industries. Hence, in the second period examined in this thesis, growing demand in the labor market drew a large number of women into the work place. Census data suggest that the increase in female labor force participation is mainly due to a large number of married women (aged between 35-49) and single women (aged between 20-24) entering the labor market. Changes in traditional family values, such as a decrease in the number of children wanted and the delay of median age at marriage, seemed to have accelerated the process of the entrance of females into the labor market. Hence, female labor force participation rates in fact grew steadily while male's decreased in the time period studied. As far as education is concerned, Table 9 suggests that female enrollment rates increased significantly. The number of female students enrolling in Pre-school, Primary, and Secondary schools were fairly close to that of male students. Although female students were still discriminated against in the Higher Education levels, female enrollment rates increased faster in this level than any other level. Data regarding the literacy rate also indicates a near equity between the sexes. Although the gap between males and females was still 17.83 percent in 1975, the literacy rate for females clearly increased more rapidly than males. In fact, most males and females born after the Second World War are literate. The above-mentioned changes that have occurred in the 76 course of Taiwan's economic development would seem to confirm the notion of Modernization Theory that women.are integrated into the process of economic development. Women were no longer restricted to the home, and their roles have become diversifed during the post-war period. Sometimes, women even benefit more from development than men. Nevertheless, women's culturally defined sex roles clearly have continued to dictate their educational status and economic status. Young women, in order to repay their parents, have been willing to sacrifice their own futures to raise their brothers' educational levels. Even if they continued their studies, they tended to go into Social Science and related fields, as suggested by the censuses. In fact, if we group both female and male graduates into Natural Science and related fields, and Social Science and related fields, women's status has relatively worsened. Married women, on the other hand, were from time to time absent from work, or even dropped out of the labor force to meet the needs of their family. Table 15 Suggests that house-keeping as a reason for female being economically inactive was still common. In comparison, the reason for most males being economically inactive is that they are attending school. Moreover, the sexual division of production between home and market continued to be translated into the sexual division of work within the labor market. The rankings for females' shares of employment by 77 industry as well as occupation were quite stable over the time studied (See Table 7). Women were still engaging in "house-extended" or "female" occupations as suggested by Table 6. As a matter of fact, most of the job opportunities offered were in those industries in which females were already significantly present. ' Women were increasingly experiencing "double duties"; the increase of female labor force participation in Taiwan is due to the entrance of married women, aged between 35 and 49, into the labor market. Additionally, the pressure put on women in households has not lessened much. Married women not only reproduce their family members but also their own labor. Furthermore, their unwaged labor is used against them in the labor market, lowering the wages of the work they traditionally perform. Seen as a secondary wage earner, women were paid lower than they otherwise might be. This situation was werl enumerated in Diamond's account of women's wages in Taiwan: Yet it is clear that women enter industry on a different basis than men. For both local entrepreneurs, and for foreign industry seeking the advantages of Taiwan's low-cost labor supply, women are ideal workers in that neither they nor anybody else considers it necessary or desirable that they receive an independent wage. Few receive earnings that would adequately meet living costs and present-day consumer expectations for a single individual living on her own, let alone sufficient wages to support a household (1979:319). Low wage labor served as the means to attract foreign I) by: investment, thereby maintaining high economic growth rates 78 as well as social stability”. By promoting the traditional familial values, budget savings on social welfare programs could be used for other purposes, hence perpetuating women's inferior status") Yet recently, with the development of Taiwan's economy, the status of mothers-in-law has become vulnerable due to more autonomy and economic benefits received by their daughters-in-law. Clearly, the shift of power betweéh generations of women within the familial hierarchy has begun to occur. Overall, my findings seem to support the notion of Patriarchal Capitalism as an explanation for women's status in society. Coupled with the traditional patriarchy, capitalism has seemed to bring about certain disadvantages for women in the post-war Taiwan. However, Taiwan's economic development has also brought about some positive changes in women's status as well, such as increased access to education and higher literacy rates. Therefore, my suggestion is that the notion of Patriarchal Capitalihm needs further refinement as it is currently incapable of including those positive changes in women's status that have occurred. It is important to further examine areas where women benefit from, or are disadvantaged by economic m Refer to Diamond's discussion (1975). 1."’Refer to Gallin (1988). 79 . development. Also, since women are still discriminated against, action for removing artificial barriers that have been detrimental to women's status are needed. For example, social welfare programs can lessen parents' dependency on sons in their old age, and relieve women of double duties. My findings suggest that a more comprehensive social welfare system needs to be established to further improve women's status. As suggested, dialectical relationships between the social institutions of family, work, and education continue to perpetuate women's inferior status in Taiwan. Women were shown to be impaired by patriarchal values in the family and capitalist structures in the marketplace. Where should society draw the boundary lines between the domain of individual rights and that of the marketplace and the family? For Okun, this problem becomes an ethical issue as well as an economic one. He believes that the basic line that should be drawn is that every member of the society should have the right to a decent existence to assure dignity, which could give added recognition to the worth of every citizen, to the mutual respect of citizens for one another, and to the equivalent value of membership in the society for all (Okun, 1975:47). Another criterion is that society should forego any opportunity to use material rewards as a sole incentive to production. In international laws and doctrines, women's rights, to a 80 considerable degree, are included in the modern idea of "human rights". This trend of including women's rights in international laws rightly reflects the goal of feminist movement to pursue the liberation of all humans. Leslie J. Calman (1987) suggested that we could witness its pronounced expressions in both The U.N. Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Therefore, I will argue that an ideal society should be the one in which status attainment would not be hampered by certain innate characteristics of its members. Women pursuing the goal of being equal to men should be encouraged. 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