Taiwanese Parents Spend to Make Their Children More Competitive
What you need to know
During the summer vacation, many children in Taiwan will spend countless hours learning foreign languages or writing formulas in science class. And that's exactly where their parents want them to be.
Taiwan’s education savings rate is among the highest in Asia as parents push their children to gain a competitive edge over their classmates.
The percentage of parents in Taiwan who regularly save money for their children’s education is the fourth highest in Asia, according to the MasterCard Survey on Consumer Purchasing Priorities - Education.
The survey shows that 82% of Taiwanese parents save money for their children’s education, more than the 61% of parents in Japan and 75% in Korea. In Asia, only Thailand, Malaysia and Bangladesh have higher education saving rates than Taiwan.
On average, Taiwanese parents set aside 17% of their family income for their children’s education — the second highest ratio in Asia after Thailand at 21%. The money is mainly spent on extra classes, learning foreign languages and sports.
Eva Chen (陳懿文), president of MasterCard Taiwan, says that parents in Taiwan emphasize the importance of education in a competitive employment environment.
One Taiwanese parent with an eight-year-old child told The News Lens International he would like his child to learn as much as possible. During the summer vacation, his child attends science class in the morning, English class in the afternoon, and takes violin lessons at night.
The child also learned to play the piano and was enrolled in an English cram school last semester. He is now planning for his child to pick up Spanish.
"Since my child has a lot of free time, it's better for him to spend time on learning," the parent says. "Language is a tool that allows you to communicate with the world."
First Editor: Olivia Yang
Second Editor: J. Michael Cole