Terry Gou, billionaire and presidential candidate, suggests giving couples a pet if they procreate. All with the aim of increasing one of the lowest birth rates in the world.
A proposal like any other? In Taiwan, a billionaire and 2024 presidential candidate has proposed a surprising solution to the birth crisis affecting the island. With 1.13 children per mother in 2017, it is one of the lowest in the world, even falling below 1 in 2011.
Terry Gou’s solution? Offer a cat or dog to new parents. As reported by Guardian, the billionaire and founder of Foxconn, Apple supplier, would have relied on dubious studies. These would tend to demonstrate that certain couples would turn to adopting animals rather than procreation. Pet ownership is really on the rise.
“Give birth to a child and I will let you raise one more animal,” he said, according to a translation by Formosa TV reported in the press.
Two birds with one stone
The candidate believes that his proposal would solve two problems at once. After visiting a shelter, he noticed the abandonment of animals. “If there is no increase in the birth rate in the future, who will take care of our four-legged friends” (six), he reportedly told journalists.
“I have brought two issues together. You cannot expect me, one person, to come up with a complete policy for every little issue. Adding and multiplying love is my goal,” he added .
Terry Gou, who severed his ties with his company in view of the presidential election, had already made proposals during the previous national election. One of his ideas, more rational, was to finance the education of young people until they were six years old.
This suggestion, which was not taken up, could help address part of the problem. The reduction in the birth rate in Taiwan is linked, among other things, to the particularly high cost of living and the difficulty of accessing childcare services.
An aging of the population which can weaken the economy, and defense, in a country permanently on alert vis-à-vis China.
Will this measure allow Terry Gou to win at the time of the vote in January 2024? According to analysts, his chances of success are slim compared to other opposition candidates. An opposition which also has to deal with the popularity rating of Ching-te, the outgoing democratic president who is currently leading the polls.
Source: BFM TV
