• Hsinchu bucks Taiwan's baby bust as tech salaries help young families put down roots. • In the chip capital, high salaries and job security are making parenting possible — for some. • Prosperity is splitting the city into winners and shutouts.

"The most lucrative industry in Hsinchu isn't chips. It's kindergartens," a Taiwanese friend quipped when I mentioned my trip to the chip city, 50 miles south of Taipei.

He was half-joking, but it's not far from the truth.

Hsinchu, home to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and a dense network of tech firms that form the world's chip supply chains, is now the rare place in Taiwan where people are still having babies — if they can afford to.

While most of Taiwan struggles with one of the world's lowest birthrates, Hsinchu's numbers h

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