Cracking the difficulty of taking care of children during holidays, summer daycare classes have been launched in multiple parts of China | Services | China
During the summer vacation, official free childcare services have been launched in many parts of China.
This measure has solved the urgent need for An Liting, born in the 1980s. For her, how to settle down her children during the holiday was once a particularly anxious issue for dual working families. Now, she is settling her elementary school son in a summer care class opened in a community in Liuzhou, Guangxi, and will pick him up after work.
In recent days, reporters from China News Agency have visited the Party and Mass Service Center of Country Garden Binjiangfu Community in Chengzhong District, Liuzhou City, as well as the Qinghuafang Community Comprehensive Service Center and other communities that have established summer care classes. They have used the existing idle areas to set up work areas, reading areas, game areas, movie screening areas, etc. Children are arranged to study and participate in activities in different areas according to the curriculum schedule.
He Shimin, Secretary of the Party Committee of Qianmao Community in Liuzhou City, introduced that during regular household visits, community workers learned that many parents of their second child and dual working families are distressed about their child's summer vacation destination. Starting from 2022, after soliciting public opinions, the community will conveniently use funds to purchase social services and provide free summer care services.
The community provides summer care services, known as "official childcare". Parent Zhang Xuelian came with an "official" background. She said, "If the child comes here, parents can rest assured to go to work." Therefore, she signed up for her child to participate in the summer vacation for two consecutive years.
The issue of childbirth is currently a hot topic in Chinese society. Although China encourages childbirth and implements a three child policy, many families are struggling with issues such as whether or not to have children and how to ensure childcare.
An Liting, who only has one child, said that for office workers, taking care of one child requires a lot of energy. She was worried that having a second child would affect her quality of life, so she chose to have only one child.
Anning's idea is not an exception. Yao Hua, director of the Institute of Sociology of the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences, said that the team had done relevant research, and many young people were deterred from childbearing because of the cost of child rearing.
Previously, Hao Fuqing, Deputy Director of the Social Development Department of the National Development and Reform Commission of China, introduced that a survey showed that the lack of childcare for infants and young children is the primary factor hindering fertility. More than one-third of households in cities have childcare needs, but the supply is clearly insufficient, especially in terms of inclusive services.
To encourage childbirth, it is necessary to first overcome the difficulty of taking care of children. To build a fertility friendly society, many Chinese governments have actively introduced corresponding policies. Shanghai has issued the Guiding Opinions on Strengthening Community Childcare Services in the City, promoting the construction of embedded and standardized "baby houses" in community childcare points, providing centralized care, door-to-door guidance, and scientific parenting guidance services for children aged 1-3 in the jurisdiction, such as temporary and timed childcare.
As early as the summer of 2021, Chengdu implemented "official childcare" throughout the city, exploring summer care services in 23 districts. This summer, Jinan, Rizhao, Dongying and other places in Shandong Province have all launched a new model of "summer care", with local labor unions, communities, and others offering summer care classes to provide children with a new place to go.
China has successively issued the Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Development of Care Services for Infants and Young Children under the Age of 3, proposing the basic principles, key tasks, support policies, and guarantee measures for the development of childcare services. From 2020 to 2023, China has allocated a total of 3.6 billion yuan from the central budget to build 48 comprehensive childcare service centers at or above the prefecture level.
Yao Hua believes that during previous holidays, if the child was taken care of by the elderly, there was a problem of intergenerational parenting; If sent to a childcare institution, it will cost a lot of money. Nowadays, the government provides free childcare services, making a gesture and giving young people more choices in parenting and childcare, which has a certain positive effect on promoting fertility.
