New childcare action plan brings relief to parents

Shanghai will establish at least 150 care centers for pre-kindergarteners in the coming three years, according to a three-year action plan to enhance public care for the city's toddling population that was released by the municipal government on Wednesday.

The three-year action plan, the first of its kind in the provincial level in the country, is aimed at providing a systematic approach to improve public care for those aged 3 and below, said Chen Qun, vice mayor of Shanghai, during a news briefing on Wednesday.

"Children under three years old are the most vulnerable group in society. Good childcare is important for the healthy growth of children, the vital interests of families and the improvement in the quality of urban life," said Chen.

"With the introduction of the universal two-child policy (in 2016), Shanghai is experiencing a demographic change both in terms of scale and structure. It has become imperative to meet the growing demand for scientific parental guidance and affordable daycare services for children aged below 3 across the city."

According to Chen, Shanghai has since 2017 been working toward the goal of establishing 50 new day care centers for pre-kindergarteners every year.

So far, the city has nearly 800 institutions offering daycare services for pre-kindergartners. The number is set to grow by at least 50 a year, and by 2023, more than half of the city's kindergartens will be able to offer day-care services for children under age 3, according to the plan.

The plan also stresses on providing parental guidance to ensure the healthy growth of children and encourages district governments to provide venues, rent reduction and other subsidies to support communities, enterprises and institutions in this matter.

"Each street and town will build a parenting guidance station, providing at least one door-to-door guidance service for each family with a newborn baby in the community, and at least six off-line guidance services for families with infants and young children in need each year," Chen said.

At the same time, each district will build at least one development base for infants and young children to popularize basic knowledge of the development of infants and young children and parenting skills, as well as to provide high-quality medical and health care services, Chen added.

Many parents welcomed the introduction of the three-year plan.

Li Mengqian, 29, who has a five-year-old daughter, said she used to pay 4,000 yuan per month to have her daughter looked after by a private institution before she was old enough to attend kindergarten. Li and her husband are both working professionals.

Apart from the high cost, Li was also concerned about the care provided by such private institutions as the management of such facilities and staff qualifications are not regulated.

"The three-year plan will certainly bring much relief to many families like ours," Li said.

Jiang Shan, who has a son attending kindergarten and a one-year-old daughter, shares the same sentiment as she is planning to send her daughter to a day care center.

"Taking care of two children is just too stressful," Jiang said.