Where exactly is the road?, There are many challenges to be solved in exploring inclusive childcare benefits! Unit run childcare facilities | Operation | Unit | Enterprise | Childcare services | Center | Employees | Childcare

At the end of 2021, Luzhou Vocational and Technical College actively participated in the exploration and practice of the first batch of childcare pilot projects in Luzhou after soliciting opinions and suggestions from teachers and staff. Not long after this year's enrollment started, Ding Ruizan, an employee of the college, applied for a childcare spot for Erbao.

In recent years, in order to further encourage childbearing and increase the supply of childcare services, under the advocacy of government departments, some inclusive childcare parks set up by industrial parks, enterprises and institutions have gradually emerged in Sichuan. However, due to the high investment in the construction of childcare parks, high operating standards, and heavy caregiving responsibilities, even with strong demand for childcare, many units still face many practical difficulties in the specific implementation. Where is the "road" for unit entrusted services? The reporter from Workers Daily conducted in-depth interviews.

Using childcare services as a supporting measure for talent introduction

Compared with childcare institutions that often charge thousands or even tens of thousands of yuan in the market, Ding Ruizan believes that the school's decision to provide childcare services has truly provided employees with a "super value inclusive gift package", which has relieved many people's worries.

"At present, there are more than 80 childcare facilities in three classes. When the number of students is not yet full, in addition to the children of internal staff, childcare facilities will also be open to employees in surrounding areas such as Luzhou Science and Education Park, Chuannan Free Trade Zone, and Lingang Industrial Zone, with different charging standards. According to Chen Xiong, the relevant person in charge of Luzhou Vocational and Technical College, according to local policies in Luzhou, the street community where the school is located will provide a one-time subsidy of 300 yuan for each childcare facility, and the school will provide an annual operating subsidy of 200000 yuan, while also providing cover for other expenses.".

"Childcare is not only helping to take care of children, but also playing a role in the critical period of their physical and mental development." The University of Electronic Science and Technology, located in Chengdu, Sichuan, started the construction of childcare centers as early as 2019. Mao Yanyan, the head of its daycare center, told reporters that many young talents at home and abroad attach great importance to the professional cultivation of children and infants. Therefore, at the beginning of its establishment, daycare services were regarded as an important supporting facility for talent introduction. From center construction, personnel allocation to various expenses since operation, the school has provided significant investment.

According to the introduction, the building area of the daycare center at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China is 1512 square meters, with an outdoor activity area of 300 square meters. The maximum designed number of daycare facilities is 145, and it can accommodate 8 classes, including nursing classes, daycare classes, and daycare classes. It provides full day care, half day care, timed care, and other services for infants and young children aged 0-3.

"Schools often bring young talents they plan to introduce to visit, and for some newly introduced talents with childcare needs, the first thing they do after officially entering the school is to come to the childcare center to arrange for their children to enter the kindergarten," said Mao Yanyan.

Unit childcare is the second most optimal option

During the interview, the reporter found that each task of the unit's childcare is very specific. According to relevant national regulations, childcare centers not only have strict requirements for venue facilities, but also need to be equipped with early childhood education and childcare teachers, child care, rehabilitation doctors, nursing, nutrition, life and other professional medical and educational integrated childcare teams as needed.

At present, there are 50 young children in the daycare center of the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, most of whom are aged 2-3 and managed in four classes. This means having 16 childcare teachers, and positions such as early childhood education, responsive care, early development, and childcare all have strong professionalism.

Mao Yanyan calculated that the childcare center, which mainly serves families with high-level talents with high education and high salaries, is built in comparison to high-end institutions in the market. The monthly operating costs incurred by the center include comprehensive personnel salaries, water and electricity expenses, meal expenses, and maintenance of facilities and equipment. At present, the school's fee per seat has actually exceeded the public's perceived inclusive range.

However, some interviewed faculty and staff members of the school believe that social childcare institutions are a mix of good and bad. Even if the cost they bear is not low, they are reliable, safe, convenient, and have invested in inclusive childcare funds for their own units. This is already the best choice after seeking second best.

The reporter learned in the interview that although some enterprises and institutions have the willingness to provide inclusive childcare services, they are discouraged by high construction investment, high operating standards, and heavy caregiving responsibilities.

"The original plan was to use idle buildings to establish an employee daycare center, but after preliminary research, it was decided to temporarily put it on hold." Yang Xue, the chairman of a state-owned enterprise labor union in Chengdu with tens of thousands of employees, said that the original plan was to rely on the enterprise to establish a daycare center. After the discussion was put on the agenda, it was found that the construction and operation of inclusive daycare parks could not be supported solely by the enterprise's strength, including the site, personnel, and operational investment costs.

Policy support requires practical measures to achieve practical results

According to the Implementation Plan for the Special Action to Support the Development of Inclusive Childcare Services by Social Forces jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Health Commission, demonstration childcare service institutions and community childcare service facilities that undertake certain guiding functions will receive a subsidy of 10000 yuan per newly added childcare space for investment within the central budget. Government agencies, enterprises and institutions that use their own land or facilities to build, renovate, and expand childcare service facilities, and open up inclusive childcare spaces to society, can also be included in the above two types of support.

Multiple interviewed units have stated that a scientific cost sharing mechanism needs to be combined with actual demands to maintain long-term standardized childcare services, and public service funds will still be needed to jointly support it in the future.

"Can we explore the establishment of a reasonable cost sharing mechanism among government, industrial parks, enterprises, employees, and other parties to jointly reduce the cost of employee childcare and solve the problem of employee childcare?" After fully participating in the construction of an industrial park's childcare park, Wang Xizhong, a member of the Party Group and Vice Chairman of the Chengdu Pengzhou Federation of Trade Unions, has been paying attention to and deeply thinking about how to reduce the burden of employee childcare expenses. He believes that in order to reduce the burden of childcare for employees, it is necessary to make deductions in the investment of employers. Therefore, the government must take practical measures in policy support to achieve effective results.

"The promotion of enterprises and institutions to establish childcare institutions by the state is a good path, but it is currently very difficult." Another identity of Mao Yanyan is the expert in the first expert database of care services for infants and young children under the age of 3 in Sichuan Province.

She stated that due to the rigid nature of infant and toddler daycare, the cause of childcare needs dedication and responsibility, and cannot be industrialized. Inclusive and public welfare daycare centers should be the mainstay of the market. "It is recommended to start with top-level design. On the one hand, the government should increase support for enterprises in terms of taxation, subsidies, and policies. On the other hand, it should strengthen guidance and supervision of enterprises, and even include them in assessment indicators. Multiple measures should be taken to enhance the enthusiasm of enterprises, especially large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises, to participate in childcare."