Seventy percent of respondents believe that the development of inclusive childcare will increase the willingness of young people to have children

The 2022 government work report proposes to develop inclusive childcare services and reduce the burden of family parenting. At present, no one has children, and the cost of childcare is a problem that many young people worry about when considering childbearing. Will the development of inclusive childcare services and the construction of a fertility-friendly society enhance the willingness of young people to have children?

During the two sessions of the National People's Congress, a survey of 3,037 respondents conducted by the Social Survey Center of China Youth Daily and Tencent News showed that 82% of respondents expected the state to vigorously develop inclusive childcare services. The general concern of respondents was the professionalism and responsibility of the practitioners, the acceptable price range, and the convenience of the service point. 70% of respondents believe that the development of inclusive childcare services will increase the willingness of young people to have children.

82% of respondents expect the state to vigorously develop inclusive childcare services

The daughter of Ling Cong, a post-90s generation in Nanchang, Jiangxi, is 1.5 years old. Because the elderly on both sides could not help with the children, Ling Cong quit his job when the baby was 8 months old and took the child full-time. But every day is still very busy, so I found a housework aunt. "I wanted to find an aunt to live in, but a monthly salary of 6,000 yuan is a big expense for us. Although I am now only responsible for my children's diet and early education, I am still very tired. Ling Cong told the reporter of China Youth Daily and China Youth Network that when the child is older, she will adjust her state, return to the workplace, and continue to struggle for the ideal.

Ling Cong has several friends around him, who also gave up the workplace to become a full-time mother, including many with doctoral and master's degrees. "There is a laboratory doctor in a public hospital in our community, who left his job after giving birth to the baby, and he was not at ease to hand over the baby to someone else to take."

In this survey, many netizens actively left messages in the comment area. Among them are not only full-time moms, but also stay-at-home dads.

A grandfather told me that no one helped with the children, and his wife was a public official who could not leave her job, so she had just quit her job in the private sector and was at home with the children full-time. The economic pressure on the family has suddenly increased, and the burden of the wife to earn money and support the family alone is also very heavy, and the top priority is to popularize universal childcare services as soon as possible.

A mother born in 1981 left a message lamenting that there are many problems to face when giving birth to a baby. The first is that the child must be brought by someone after birth, and the second is that it may not be able to bring well. Women also face many obstacles to returning to the workplace after giving birth, "I also want to have another child, but conditions do not allow it." Mortgages, support for the elderly, children's education and other issues have all made me worry."

Ling Cong observed that economic pressure, no one to take children, and parenting differences with the elderly are the problems faced by many young parents. "It is difficult to agree on the concept of parenting with the elderly. For example, mothers do not give their children too many complementary foods, afraid of accumulating food. The old man was worried that the child would not have enough to eat, so he secretly gave it food. No one can convince anyone. She said that if there is a professional inclusive childcare service that does not pay a high fee, it will be the first choice for many young parents.

82% of respondents expect the state to vigorously develop inclusive childcare services, of which 56% said they were very much looking forward to it.

To develop inclusive childcare, 80% of respondents pay the most attention to the professionalism and sense of responsibility of practitioners

Ling Cong and his lover have visited three or four local childcare centers and found that they mainly serve children over 1 year old, and it is a model in which 1 staff member takes care of 3 children at the same time. "Children are small, life can not take care of themselves, will not accurately express needs. I am very worried that I will not take good care of it, and it will not be conducive to the physical and mental development of the child for a long time. Although the level of charging is based on the age of the month, the overall level is relatively high, similar to asking a live-in aunt. Ling Cong is not satisfied with the childcare services at this stage, and she admits that she would rather work hard with her children than send them to a childcare service agency.

Beijing new mother Guo Yuning's baby is 9 months old. She added seven or eight mother and baby groups successively. "Who's going to bring the kids is a topic that the group often talks about. When it comes to childcare institutions, everyone is most concerned about the professionalism of the staff and whether they can take care of their children with all their hearts. Children spend nearly 10 hours a day in the institution, and parents are worried about safety. ”

For the safety issues that many families are concerned about, Huang Kuangshi, an associate researcher at the Chinese and Development Research Center, suggested that intelligent technologies such as the Internet and big data should be fully utilized so that parents can understand their children's situation anytime and anywhere.

What are the concerns about inclusive childcare services? According to the survey, the professionalism and responsibility of practitioners are the most concerned, with 80% of respondents choosing this option, followed by prices in the acceptable range (74%) and accessibility of service points (72%). Others include: site safety (70%), richness of childcare content (56%).

Huang Kuangshi said that there are three main problems facing the development of childcare services in the mainland at present. First, the demand for childcare services has not been effectively developed and channelled. "Influenced by traditional concepts, people still tend to hand them over to their families and are reluctant to send infants and young children under 3 years old to institutions." Second, there is an inadequate supply of high-quality childcare services. Overall, the development of service quality, safety, convenience, and childcare talents is not enough. Third, the fees are relatively high. Especially in large and medium-sized cities, due to the relatively high land rent prices and facility requirements, the operating costs of childcare institutions are very high, which further leads to high charging levels. "This is the main reason why inclusive childcare services are being developed."

70% of respondents believe that the development of inclusive childcare services will increase the willingness of young people to have children

"Our country has just begun to popularize childcare services, and there is still a long way to go." Ling Cong hopes that nursery teachers can have higher professional skills and teaching ability. "In addition to the children's food and clothing, the nursery teacher should let the children have fun and develop good habits. These are all things that are essential to your child's development. Proper parenting before the age of 3, I believe will be the wealth and confidence of the child's life. ”

"Compared with home care, childcare service institutions have large venues, sports equipment, early education classes and other content, which is very rich. If the state vigorously develops inclusive childcare services, greatly reduces the level of fees, and the staff is professional and patient, I believe that more and more families will choose childcare services. Ling Cong said.

"There are many families around me who have no one to help with children. Some families have therefore made it clear that they do not consider having a baby again. Guo Yuning believes that universal childcare services can greatly solve the parenting problems of young parents.

Huang Kuangshi said that the development of inclusive childcare services is of great significance to improving fertility, promoting family harmony, and balancing motherhood and employment. "We've done research that under the same circumstances, there are higher fertility rates with inclusive childcare services than there are no. Therefore, the development of inclusive childcare services can indeed improve fertility to a certain extent. ”

According to the survey, 70% of respondents believe that the development of inclusive childcare services can increase the willingness of young people to have children, and 16% of the respondents believe that it will greatly increase.

Of the respondents to the survey, 41% were men and 59% were women.

China Youth Daily, China Youth Network reporter Du Yuanchun Intern Xiao Pinghua Source: China Youth Daily

Source: China Youth Daily