Have you ever heard of a 1-year-old "little child" going to kindergarten? This week, a public kindergarten in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, opened a "baby class", which rushed to the hot search. Three six-month-old, eight-month-old, and one-year-old babies became the first batch of students in the class. From feeding, playing, sleeping, changing diapers, etc., they are all taken care of by special nurses one-on-one, and the cost is one-third lower than that of private ones, 1,950 yuan per month. Some parents of children said that they would choose to come here because the husband and wife are dual-income workers, and the elderly in the family have not yet retired, and they really can't afford to hire a nanny.
According to statistics, there are about 30 million infants and young children under the age of 3 in the mainland, of which more than 30% of infant and toddler families have a need for nursery. Although it is relatively rare to enter a childcare institution under the age of 1, it is not a new thing to enter a childcare institution at the age of 2-3. To what extent can such childcare services alleviate the stress of childcare? What is the quality of their childcare, and how can they ensure the healthy growth of children?
A public kindergarten in Wenzhou for three children under the age of one in the city's first nursery class attracted attention this week. For more than a month, the nursery class has enrolled 9 school-age babies. In fact, this is not the first in Wenzhou, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Chengdu and other places have also explored accordingly.
Ms. Li was the eldest in her hometown in Hebei, when she did not need to work, and her parents helped her to raise her children, but when she gave birth to the second child, she was in the workplace, and in accordance with the provisions of maternity leave and holidays, she accompanied the child for a total of seven months and returned to work. At this time, she and her lover were both busy with jobs, and their parents were unable to help raise them for various reasons, and housekeeping involved privacy and other issues, so they set their sights on childcare institutions near their homes.
Separation from the second child is a challenge, the lover tried to persuade her, with the baby is no matter how small, rather than 24 hours of inefficient companionship, it is better to send to a childcare institution in exchange for high-quality companionship, and a job is not easy to come by, the couple feel that the older they are, the weaker the competitiveness in the workplace, the longer the family with the baby, the lack of opportunities for learning and progress.
As the person in charge of a childcare institution, Wang Dujuan, who has a ten-month-old child, still needs to face up to the psychological problems in parenting, and therefore, she can empathize with the problems in the raising of new parents. She received a lot of advice from her mother: how to settle her child after the maternity leave expires? Currently, 10 per cent of the total number of children under the age of one year is received by the institution.
In fact, such a need has long been noticed. In May 2019, the General Office of the State Council officially issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Development of Infant and Child Care Services for Children Under the Age of 3", proposing to strengthen support and guidance for family infant and child care, increase support for community infant and child care services, and put forward the concept of "infant and child care" for the first time. According to the data, there are about 30 million infants and young children under the age of 3 in the mainland, and more than 30% of the families of infants and young children have a need for nursery. Both husband and wife are office workers, and many elderly people are not able to catch up, and the care of young babies has become a worry for many young families.
At the beginning of 2021, the National Health Commission issued a guidance document, making clear requirements for the childcare work of childcare institutions for the first time, dividing 7 months to 36 months into three stages, focusing on children's development in seven dimensions, including nutrition and feeding, movement, language, emotion and sociality. But Wang stressed that these practices are inseparable from the participation of parents, who cannot be left in charge because they have childcare institutions.
Wang Dujuan, head of a childcare institution in Chengdu: In fact, I often pass on a concept to our parents, that is, the child sent to the childcare center does not mean that we do not have to go to parenting, family parenting is still dominant, we are just as a supplement to family parenting. We and our parents are actually more like partners, that is, we are co-parenting.
Co-parenting requires the professionalism and affordable price of childcare institutions. Although the space and decoration of the site are provided by the community and the street, the consumption of human capital is large, and the monthly price of 3,000 to 4,000 yuan almost covers the monthly income of a worker like Ms. Li.
The maternity leave stipulated by the state is now 158 days, which means that from the time the child is six months old to three years old to go to kindergarten, there is a long period of time when the parents cannot take care of it personally, and childcare institutions have come into being. Last year, private childcare institutions in mainland China accounted for 89.5% of all childcare institutions, and childcare fees in first-tier cities reached 5,500 yuan a month, which is a big gap with the ability of young families to pay. Just last week, in response to the question of "childcare is expensive", the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Health Commission issued the first policy document on the price of childcare services at the national level, with the aim of promoting the expansion of the supply of inclusive childcare services by improving the price formation mechanism. What are the possible consequences?
In the Yongchuan District Maternal and Child Health Hospital in Chongqing, every morning, many parents will send their children to the childcare center here, which was officially put into operation two years ago, relying on the children's health department of the Maternal and Child Health Hospital, 150 nursery places have been set up to enroll children from 6 months to 3 years old in the city, who need to be nursed.
Opening their mouths and sticking out their tongues, following the doctor's instructions, these children, with an average age of about two years old, started the morning check-up in the kindergarten.
With the end of the morning check-up, the children can go to the cafeteria for breakfast. Each week's recipe is adjusted to the needs of your child's growth and development. In addition to the physical examination and the recipes formulated by the dietitian, the childcare center of Yongchuan District Maternal and Child Health Hospital is different from other traditional childcare centers in that it is equipped with an 8-division co-education service team such as doctors, massage therapists, dietitians, therapists, and assessors, and also regularly conducts growth monitoring, developmental assessment, and five senses health care and other activities for the children.
This Thursday, we ushered in a three-monthly growth and development monitoring activity. Children in the childcare centre are taken to a special monitoring area at the Maternal and Child Health Hospital to have their physical growth measured. So far, such monitoring activities have benefited a total of 1,332 children, of which 10 children with abnormal growth and development have been successfully screened, and timely intervention and treatment have been carried out in conjunction with the medical team.
In 2023, the National Health Commission, together with the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the National Administration for Disease Control and Prevention, jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting Medical and Health Institutions to Support the Development of Childcare Services" on the basis of extensive practical experience in various places. Prior to the release of this opinion, as early as 2021, the Standing Committee of the Chongqing Municipal People's Congress revised the "Chongqing Population and Family Planning Regulations", proposing to establish and improve the inclusive childcare service system and provide necessary policy support to inclusive childcare service institutions. The first batch of childcare service demonstration institutions in the city, each institution has received a subsidy of 100,000 yuan for "substitution with awards". In terms of financial support, the Chongqing Municipal Development and Reform Commission has successfully secured nearly 50 million yuan of central budget funds in the past two years to promote the implementation of 38 inclusive childcare projects in districts and counties.
Then we will strive for financial support of 3.6 million yuan to complete the infrastructure construction. In 2022, it took the lead in establishing the first public "medical and education" demonstration childcare center in Chongqing, which is also an inclusive childcare center.
In 2023, Chongqing Municipality has formulated a corresponding subsidy policy for inclusive childcare centers, setting subsidy standards of 900 yuan, 800 yuan and 700 yuan per person per year for nursery classes, nursery classes and nursery classes, respectively. By the end of June 2024, the number of childcare institutions in Chongqing had surged to 2,327, and the number of childcare places had reached 126,600, a more than fourfold increase from 30,300 three years ago. In order to further lead the development of childcare institutions across the country, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Health Commission recently jointly issued the Notice on Further Improving the Price Formation Mechanism and Supporting the Construction of an Inclusive Childcare Service System. As the first policy guidance document for the price of childcare services at the national level, this document aims to effectively promote the expansion and optimization of the supply of inclusive childcare services by improving the price formation mechanism.
In September this year, a report by the National Health Commission showed that the actual enrollment rate of infants and young children under the age of 3 in the mainland was 7.86%, and nearly half of the nursery places in various childcare institutions were not used. The reason behind it, in addition to the high cost of childcare services complained by parents and the worry about the poor quality of childcare, is also related to our feelings: no one wants to let too young children leave the care of their families unless absolutely necessary. So in many families, you can see that parents, grandparents, and grandparents take turns to fight. It's okay if the family isn't busy, but what if there is an emergency and no one can take care of the children?
The little boy's name is Qiqi, and he will be 14 months old in two days. At 9 o'clock in the morning this Thursday, his mother sent him to the "Jiangjiaxiang Baby House" at the door of his house. Here, he will spend 2 hours together in the company of a professional childcare worker. At about 11 p.m., his grandmother would come and pick him up. This short two-hour period not only allows the mother to complete her work at the unit with peace of mind, but also allows the grandmother to relax a little from the stressful life of raising a baby.
It is difficult for a child as old as Qiqi to focus on one thing for a long time. He had just been playing at the table for a few minutes before he ran up and down the toy stairs again. 2 hours of exercise allows him to take a good nap when he gets home. In the baby house, we see many elderly people who spend their time taking care of their grandchildren, such as this grandmother, whose daughter has a second child, and she usually has to take care of her grandson, who has just turned 1 year old, and the eldest who is in the fourth grade of primary school.
"Baby House" is a "community childcare" service launched in Shanghai. Unlike full-day care in childcare facilities, it only provides 2 hours of "temporary care" in the morning and afternoon every day. The "Baby House" is fully funded by the government, and each baby can use it for free at least 12 times a year, and after the number of times, it will only be charged according to the public welfare price. At present, there are more than 240 baby houses in Shanghai, covering most of the city's streets and towns, and the original No. 001 baby house originated from Jiangning Road Street, where the "Jiangjiaxiang Baby House" is located.
At present, 6 baby houses have been opened in Jiangning Road Street, which are located in the eastern, central and western parts of the street, ensuring that residents in the street can receive childcare services within a 15-minute living circle. In addition to being opened in the community, it is convenient for parents to pick up and drop-off; There are also those that are set up in shopping malls and can provide convenience for parents who go out shopping; There are also some baby houses set up in multi-functional party and mass activity centers.
Across the wall of the "baby house", grandparents are practicing singing loudly. In another room, there is a teacher teaching ink painting. A large part of the reason why the grandparents can be so relieved is the multi-party co-construction model of the "baby house": the street pays the money and the venue on behalf of the government, and purchases services from the childcare institution through public bidding, and the education management department controls the whole process from beginning to end.
China's 14th Five-Year Plan for Public Services clearly states that by 2025, efforts should be made to achieve the goal of 4.5 childcare places for infants and young children under the age of 3 per 1,000 population. Last year, Shanghai began to target the integration of childcare, encouraging all kindergartens to open nursery classes for children aged 2 to 3. The city's "baby house" has supported the care needs of families with infants and young children who are reluctant to go to nursery. At present, the decoration of most "baby houses" is imitating the actual environment of the family, eliminating children's fear of unfamiliar environments.
In recent years, the state has been intensively introducing policies to cultivate diversified infant and child care services to help families reduce the burden of childcare. In addition to the continued decline in the birth rate and the need to encourage childbearing, the reality has to be faced is that raising children is much more difficult now than before. With the postponement of the age of one-child childbearing, and the addition of people over 40 years old to the ranks of second and third children, many parents of infants and young children have been squeezed into a "sandwich layer" by various pressures. Children are the future of the family and the future of the country, small families must work hard, and the society must also work harder to help reduce the burden more, so that children and parenting can get benefits.
Source: CCTV news client