China facing shortage of child care services

BEIJING -- China faces shortages of infant and child care services as the demand keeps rising, particularly after the country lifted its one-child policy.

About one-third of the respondents from 10 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, said they have the demand for social nursery services, the People's Daily newspaper said Wednesday.

The needs for child care services are even higher in Tianjin, Heilongjiang, Shandong and Sichuan, with 48 percent of those surveyed having such demand, said the report.

However, only 2.36 percent of children under the age of 3 across the country have been enrolled in nurseries or child care institutions, said the newspaper, adding the proportion in cities is 4.1 percent.

The main reasons that hold back children's attendance in nurseries include the insufficient supply of child care agencies and the high cost of child care services.

According to the report, 30.1 percent of the respondents said there are no nursery institutions near their homes while 21.6 percent said they can not afford the high cost of child care services.

It also noted that 60.7 percent of the working mothers surveyed were reluctant to have a second child because they have no one to look after their children.