A. Social and Economic Background:
---Peoples' incomes make a great jump, and the per capita GNP reaches US$8,111 by 1990.
---While the unemployment rate soared in the mid-1980's, reaching 2.9% in 1985, it fell again to 1.7% in 1990.
---Population growth gradually slowed; by 1990 the natural growth rate had fallen to 1.13%.
---Citizens' level of education continued to climb; the illiteracy rate among people 15 years of age or older dropped to 8.4% in 1990. High school and vocational school graduates made up 29.5% of the population, and those with higher education made up 14.7%. ---The 0-14 age group dropped to 27.3% of the population in 1990, and those 65 or older increased to 6.1%.
B. Food
---Fast food and supermarkets were introduced.
C. Clothing
---Clothes dryers and a variety of synthetic fibers, natural fibers, and ultrafine fibers made their appearance.
D. Housing---heat exchangers, dehumidifiers, and pushbutton-type telephones came into use.
1. Urban housing:
---Apartment-style housing took root in urban areas. Taller and taller buildings were constructed. Primary building materials were reinforced brick and concrete with rebar. Interior decoration shifted from the functional to the ornamental. Modern kitchens and bathrooms became widely adopted. The number of bathrooms per home gradually rose from one to two. Microwave ovens became popular. ---Electricity and running water are universal; most appliances are electrically operated.
2. Rural housing:
---Row houses and free-standing houses increase in number, while traditionally-built rural houses decrease. Most new houses are built from brick, reinforced brick, and reinforced concrete.
3. The populations of both Taipei and Kaohsiung are above the one million mark, and new metropolitan areas grow up around Hsinchu and Chiayi. Over 70% of the entire population lives in urban areas (72% in 1981). The severity of the pollution problem and increasing importance placed on environmental problems prompt the formation of environmental units within the government. River re-channeling, water and soil conservation, air pollution prevention, and garbage processing projects get underway.
E. Education
---New innovations include computer-aided instruction, the establishment of National Open University, and the installation of NC and CNC lathes at vocational high schools and colleges.
F. Recreation
---VCRs and video cameras enter widespread use.
---The great rise in people's incomes and the government's easing of restrictions on overseas tourism lead to greater demands for high quality travel and living environments on the part of R.O.C. citizens. Leisure activities focus on travel to scenic natural areas or rustic recreational farms.
---Due to the government's gradual relaxing of martial law restrictions on mountain and coastal areas, and the adoption of audiovisual technologies, there is an explosion of new forms of sightseeing and leisure activities.
---In 1986, 1.56% of the R.O.C.'s population went overseas for sightseeing purposes.
---Protection of the natural environment and promotion of domestic tourism are listed among the Twelve National Development Projects and Fourteen Development Plans.
---In order to spur the growth of high-tech industries and expand the scope of the tourism industry, the government begins promoting the development of large-scale recreation areas combining recreational audiovisual technology with travel and sightseeing. ---Private investment in recreational resources becomes increasingly common and the list of available leisure activities grows steadily longer.
---Following the establishment of the Council for Cultural Planning and Development 1981, more social education centers and cultural centers are set up in various counties and cities, programs and facilities are bolstered, and great efforts are made to promote cultural activities.
---Historical sites are restored and maintained; the nation's cultural heritage gradually becomes a major focus of sightseeing activities.
---The National Concert Hall, National Theater, and Museum of Natural History are opened and regularly attract large crowds.
G. Health Care
---"Group Health Care Centers" are widely established in remote areas, and large medical centers supply them with trained manpower.
---The establishment of a "medical network" helps balance medical resources in different areas, reduce the discrepancy between urban and rural districts, and increase the accessibility of medical services.
---There were 9.8 physicians trained in Western medicine, 1.17 physicians trained in traditional medicine, and 44.1 hospital beds for every 10,000 persons as of 1990.