青年基本法

This Act has been formulated in order to promote youth development; safeguard young people’s rights and dignity; assist young people to achieve self-fulfillment and enjoy a happy life; enhance young people’s participation in and fulfilling of their civic responsibilities as citizens in a sound, democratic society; implement intergenerational justice; and boost sustainable development of the State and society.

In this Act the term “youth” and the term “young people” both refer to citizens who are between eighteen and thirty-five years of age. If other legisation has provisions that use these terms to refer to people of a different age range, the provisions of that other legisation apply to people within that different age range.

1In this Act the term “the competent authority” refers to the Ministry of Education at the central government level; to the special municipality governments at the special municipality level; and to the county (city) governments at the county (city) level.

2If any matter stipulated in this Act involves an area over which another competent authority exercises administrative responsibility, that other competent authority shall handle the matter.

3Each other competent authority with administrative responsibility over a particular area shall propagate and implement youth-related policies, legislation, and programs within the area under its jurisdiction.

4The respective responsibilities of the competent authority and of the other competent authorities are as follows:

51. The competent authority: planning, promotion, and oversight of the protection of young people’s rights and interests.

62. The competent authority for labor: planning, promotion, and oversight of boosting youth employment, young people’s labor rights and interests, employment environments, career exploration assistance and vocational training.

73. The competent authority for economic affairs: planning, promotion, and oversight of youth innovation, entrepreneurship, access to startup capital, training programs, and consultations, guidance, and incubation.

1The central government shall implement the following matters related to youth affairs:

21. Planning, formulation, raising of public awareness, and implementation of nationwide youth development policies, legislation, and programs.

32. Oversight and coordination of the implementation of youth development policies by special municipality, and county (city) governments.

43. Allocation of and subsidies for central government appropriations related to youth development.

54. Planning and oversight of other nationwide youth development matters.

1Special municipality and county (city) governments shall implement the following matters related to youth affairs:

21. Planning, formulation, raising of public awareness, and implementation of special municipality and county (city) youth development policies, self-government laws and regulations, and programs.

32. Implementation of nationwide youth development policies, legislation, and programs.

43. Allocation of funding and subsidies for special municipality and county (city) expenses related to youth development.

54. Planning and oversight of other special municipality and county (city) youth development matters.

1When formulating policies, legislation, and programs, the State shall encourage full participation by young people, establish mechanisms for equitable youth participation, and safeguard young people’s rights to participate.

2When selecting and appointing young people for such participation, governments at all levels shall take into account their being suitably representative, having a diversity of backgrounds, and regional balance, plan democratic and diverse ways for young people to participate, and provide ample support.

1The government shall adopt specific measures to safeguard youth’s right to enjoy a sustainable society and environment in the future.

2When promoting social development, the government shall establish opportunities for development and well-being that do not diminish and that enhance youth development, and jointly advance a social vision of gender equality and poverty eradication.

3The government shall encourage young people to promote sustainable energy and environmental protection and to participate in supporting these and jointly achieving the goal of net zero emissions.

The government shall adopt substantive measures to ensure youth’s rights to equitable learning and education, and work to construct diverse learning environments, expand learning beyond the classroom, assist young people to engage in aptitude-based exploration and adapt to global developments, and enhance young people’s resilience, learning ability, and creativity.

The government shall formulate policies and work to enhance youth employment and career development, cultivate core workplace competencies, provide aptitude-based vocational training, improve labor conditions, enhance employment environments, and create friendly workplaces that support work–life balance.

The government shall formulate policies and work to enhance youth innovation and entrepreneurship, create a supportive environment for entrepreneurs, provide entrepreneurial resources, and build an entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The government shall establish local youth support systems, encourage young people’s participation in regional revitalization and social innovation, provide incentives for young people to return to and remain in their home towns, and provide necessary assistance, guidance, and services.

The government shall formulate youth housing policies to enhance the quality of young people’s housing and implement housing justice for youth.

The government shall formulate youth fertility and family policies, proactively provide assistance measures, ensure that childrearing environments are youth-friendly, and strengthen family caregiving, and fertility and childrearing support systems.

1The government shall adopt substantive measures to enhance young people’s physical and mental health, and increase opportunities to access mental health promotion and psychological counseling measures.

2The government shall actively encourage educational institutions, organizations, legal persons, and groups to offer courses related to social and emotional learning, emotional education, and life education.

The government shall formulate policies to develop friendly, equitable environments, and safeguard young people’s physical and mental safety.

The government shall formulate youth sports policies, provide young people with healthy and safe environments for sports and recreational activities, boost and guide young people’s regular participation in sports and skills development, and implement equal rights for young people in sports.

The government shall safeguard young people’s opportunities to enjoy arts and culture related education and participate in all kinds of cultural and artistic activities, and support young people’s accessing, engaging in, and participating in cultural and artistic work and activities, to foster their having a diverse and creative cultural and artistic life.

1The government shall formulate youth economic support policies to assist young people to achieve economic independence and ensure their having a stable economic life.

2The government shall provide necessary care, welfare, and support services to alleviate the physical and mental burdens borne by youth with caregiving responsibilities.

The government shall formulate policies to cultivate young people’s financial literacy, enhance their financial knowledge and skills, and encourage and guide financial institutions to provide youth-related financial products and services.

1The government shall actively promote young people’s public participation, train and equip young people with skills to participate in public affairs, provide opportunities for young people to engage in public affairs, nurture young people’s awareness of and concern social issues, and enhance their democratic literacy.

2The government shall safeguard the rights of young people who have reached eighteen years of age to exercise the rights to vote in elections, regarding recalls, regarding initiatives, and in referendums, in accordance with law, and it shall complete the related legal framework within two years from the date that this Act takes effect.

1The government shall assist the development of non-profit organizations and groups which have young people as their main constituents, or support activities organized for young people by non-profit organizations and groups, and formulate related incentives, subsidies, space resources, and capacity-building programs.

2The government shall encourage enterprises and community organizations to fulfill their social responsibility, and jointly promote youth policies.

The government shall adopt measures to encourage young people to participate in international exchanges and cooperation, strengthen young people’s international affairs-related and cross-cultural knowledge and skills, and provide economic, diplomatic, and other necessary assistance for young people to participate in international exchanges.

1The government shall establish a digitally equitable social environment, prevent digital violence, support young people’s active participation in the digital society, enhance digital literacy, and train skilled people to work in digital fields.

2The government shall enhance youth access to opportunities to learn emerging technologies and encourage young people to make good use of forward-looking technologies to create social well-being.

Governments at all levels shall establish or designate dedicated youth affairs units to effectively promote youth policies, legislation, and programs, in response to youth affairs requirements.

1Governments at all levels shall allocate ample funding for youth development. Governments at all levels shall give young people in economically or socially disadvantaged circumstances priority when allocating incentives and subsidies, and provide related preferential measures, reductions, and waivers.

2Central competent authorities may provide incentives and subsidies to special municipality and county (city) governments to promote the development of youth affairs.

3The central government shall set up a ten billion NTD Youth Development Fund, to be used for handling matters related to youth development, and make appropriations of those funds each year for the five years after this Act takes effect.

4The sources of the money in the Fund referred to in the preceding paragraph are as follows:

51. Appropriations by the central government in accordance with budgetary procedures.

62. Interest accrued by the Fund.

73. Donations from individuals, enterprises, or organizations.

84. Other income.

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1Every four years, the central competent authority shall consider the directions of national development, social needs, and policy visions and draw up a white paper on youth policy and submit it to the Executive Yuan for approval. The white papers will be the basis for the administration of the youth-related policies and their implementation by other competent authorities.

2Every four years, the Executive Yuan shall convene a national youth conference to broadly solicit opinions from all sectors of society and discuss nationwide youth development affairs.

1The government shall conduct research, surveys, statistics, and analyses on the current status of youth affairs and other related matters, or it shall commission, or encourage pertinent agencies or institutions, educational institutions, legal persons, or organizations to do so.

2The government may collect, process, retain, release, and provide information, in accordance with legislation, for the purpose of using youth-related research and analysis as references for youth policy formulation, establishing policy evaluation indicators, and the development of academic research.

3The government shall publish statistics on the current status of youth every four years.

1The Executive Yuan shall establish a Youth Affairs Development Council, to be convened by the Premier of the Executive Yuan and composed of scholars and experts, heads of central competent authorities, and youth representatives, to deliberate, coordinate, promote, and supervise matters related to this Act. The Council shall be convened at least once every six months.

2Special municipality governments and county (city) governments shall establish Youth Affairs Development Councils, to be convened by the heads of the special municipality governments or county (city) governments and composed of scholars and experts, heads of relevant departments, and youth representatives, to coordinate and supervise the implementation of this Act.

3The youth representatives referred to in the two preceding paragraphs shall be young people from a wide range from diverse backgrounds, and in principle, selected through democratic mechanisms and shall not be fewer than one-half of the total number of members; no gender shall constitute less than one-third of the total number of youth representatives; and representation of various ethnic groups shall, in principle, be included.

4Governments at each level shall set up a youth advisory panel to collect and make known young people’s opinions, and provide constructive suggestions pertaining to public policies that young people are concerned about.

The government shall designate a National Youth Day to support youth and enhance public awareness of youth-related issues.

This Act shall become effective on the date of promulgation.