Plan aims to meet day care demand

Inadequate supply a factor in China's low fertility rate, says expert

Chinese kindergartens only accept children ages 3 and above, with younger ones sent to day care centers or left in the care of a nonworking parent, retired grandparent or part-time babysitter.

But when both parents have to work, hiring a nanny is expensive, and grandparents have other priorities, day care is the only option for many young parents, particularly those in urban areas.

Research conducted by the National Health Commission in 2016 that surveyed thousands of parents in 10 cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, found that more than a third of parents with children under the age of 3 wanted day care centers to look after their children on weekdays.

That need is only likely to have grown in the three years since the country implemented the second-child policy.

Yuan Xin, a professor at the School of Economics at Nankai University in Tianjin, said his research had found that an inadequate supply of care centers for children was a factor in China's low fertility rate.

A plan released on Feb 19 aims to establish more day care centers for infants and young children in Chinese cities.

Community centers will be encouraged to make full use of underused facilities, and unoccupied school dormitories will be turned into day care centers, according to the plan issued by 18 central government departments, including the National Development and Reform Commission, and the education and civil affairs ministries.

"Private investment in such centers will be encouraged, and the government will establish standards for the centers to ensure the quality of services," the plan said.

Beijing resident Wang Chao, who has to ride the subway for an hour from 5:30 pm every workday to pick up her 26-month-old daughter from a day care center in Chaoyang district, welcomed the plan.

The 32-year-old tried to find a day care center near her workplace in the capital's Xicheng district, but failed because "the very few were too expensive".

Looking forward to more day care centers being built nearby, Wang said, "I might find one that is reasonably priced, so that I can see my daughter conveniently on workdays."

Yuan said the plan was "good and timely".

"One factor that leads to the low fertility rate is many young couples get no helping hand to take care of their babies before they enter kindergartens," he said.

The establishment of more day care centers for infants and young children nationwide could greatly ease young people's concerns about having children, Yuan said.