[News Essay] Jointly Raising Children's Joy Where to Go During Summer Vacation | Unit | News
News Essay
Author: Wang Dan
During the summer vacation, when the "divine beast" is released, parents have to start worrying about the problem of "where the children are going". Especially for dual income families, this is a major concern during winter and summer vacations every year. It is not realistic to take children to work every day, and leaving them alone at home not only poses safety risks, but also cannot be said to be colorful. There are also training classes or independent study groups available on the market to choose from, but the high prices combined with various doubts about the quality of the products have deterred many parents.
It is gratifying that according to media reports, many enterprises and institutions have created conditions and opened various summer care classes for the children of employees, which has solved many parents' worries. For example, in Shanghai, a trade union in a certain university opened a summer growth camp; In Zhejiang, manufacturing companies rely on nearby kindergartens to provide activity venues for the children of employees; In street communities where migrant workers and new forms of labor are concentrated, local trade unions rely on civil affairs public welfare venture capital projects, select third-party social organizations, and recruit professional tutors and college student volunteers to provide interesting and beneficial care services for "migratory bird" children. What's even more rewarding for parents is that some of these caring childcare services are provided through a combination of union subsidies and personal payments, with the cost basically within an affordable range, while others are even completely free.
Enterprises and institutions actively enter the summer custody market, providing relevant services in a public welfare and inclusive manner, and actively responding to the urgent and difficult problems of employees, which is worthy of praise. For a long time, summer care and after-school care have been a major obstacle on the path of parenting. The establishment of caring summer care classes is currently aimed at ensuring that children can have a safe and fun summer. From a higher perspective, this is also a positive response to building a fertility friendly society. This pragmatic move reflects the social responsibility of relevant enterprises and institutions, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a manifestation of social sharing of the cost of childbirth. This kind of "standing up" responsibility and action can enhance the sense of achievement, identification, and cohesion of employees, and provide feedback in some form to specific production work.
Enterprises and institutions offering summer care classes have natural advantages and conditions. The ready-made book reading room, activity room, conference room, etc. of the unit are the most suitable places for hosting. Children can follow their parents on the way to and from work, and various transportation costs can also be minimized as much as possible. As for the activities during the custody period, employees or even children of employees who have already gone to college can be recruited as volunteers to plan and organize. Of course, there will inevitably be some management costs in the process of setting up summer care, but the burden will not be significant, and it can also be solved by symbolically charging certain fees to families participating in care.
When it comes to maternity support, many people first think of providing maternity allowances, extending maternity leave, and expanding the capacity of mother and baby rooms. Indeed, these needs and scenarios, as they are closer to the "production" stage, are easily recognized as the essence of the fertility support system. In contrast, summer care is less visible than the former due to factors such as the general age, short duration, and periodicity of the children it targets. Many people believe that "where to put the child" is a family matter and should be solved by the family. This understanding has also to some extent affected the enthusiasm of some enterprises and institutions to improve summer custody related services.
It should be pointed out that summer care should be placed within the fertility support system for understanding and arrangement. To boost fertility willingness, it is necessary to make "expectant parents" clearly see the institutional arrangements and trends in reducing fertility costs. This also inspires us that fertility support is a systematic project that requires a holistic and proactive approach, prioritizing issues and putting work at the forefront. Of course, it is more important to continuously establish and improve a mechanism for sharing the cost of childbirth among the state, units, families, and society. This is the greater confidence and fundamental support for children to have a safe and happy summer.
Guangming Daily
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