Infant Care: China issues guidelines to improve services for children under 3

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Childcare has become a major issue for Chinese parents after the country removed the "a couple a child" policy in 2016. To meet growing public demand, the Chinese government has now released guidelines that will encourage more services for infants under three years of age. Xia Ruixue reports.

30-year-old Li Yuanyuan is pregnant with her second child. Last year, her two-and-a-half-year-old son entered the nearby public kindergarten. This gave her the opportunity and courage to have one more child.

LI YUANYUAN MOTHER "I had only 6 months maternity leave. I was quite worried that my son wouldn't get professional care between the age of 6 months to 3 years old. Luckily, I found it."

Li is not the only mum that has such worries. China now has about 50 million infants under the age of three. But, most kindergartens accept children above 3 years old. Infants are usually taken care of, either by their grandparents or nannies.

ZHANG QIUPING, DIRECTOR HENAN EXPERIMENTAL KINDERGARTEN "Infants under 3 require much more care. But many parents say that elderly people can't keep up with the latest in infant care knowledge. And, it's very hard to find a professional nanny. That's the problem."

XIA RUIXUE ZHENGZHOU "China's 'a couple a child' policy ended three years ago. But, many Chinese people hesitate to have more kids. And we saw even fewer babies born in China last year than in 2017. Many parents are afraid that their babies can't get better care or education."

On May 9th, the General Office of the State Council published new guidelines. It says that China will support the development of various types of infant care facilities. Measures will be taken to promote infant care facilities in communities, especially in crowded neighborhoods.

LANG QINGYI, DIRECTOR OF FAMILY PLANNING DEPT. HEALTH COMMISSION OF HENAN PROVINCE "We see some kindergartens are providing services to infants under 3 years old. Our future work is to improve the quality and the quantity. We need to make infant care services more regulated."

ZHANG QIUPING, DIRECTOR HENAN EXPERIMENTAL KINDERGARTEN "We once thought of providing services to infants starting from 1 and a half years old. But that would need many more professional teachers and workers."

Chinese parents seriously need quality, affordable and safe child care services near their homes. Many expressed excitement when the guidelines were released. They now hope the government can work quickly to meet their demands.

Xia Ruixue, CGTN, Zhengzhou, Henan province.