The Shanghai Women’s Federation is calling for increased childcare options for parents in the city. A study conducted by the federation claims that only one in five of the city’s 100,000 children aged two and three have access to professional childcare. As a result, eight in ten children under three are being cared for by grandparents. The survey goes on to assert that nearly half of those grandparents don’t want the responsibility.
Instead of putting the onus for childcare on apartments and early childhood education centers, the federation proposes government-sponsored childcare centers run by local social organizations. “The first step may be a small-scale baby care spot in a residential community which offers day care or a temporary babysitting service,” it said.
Deputy chairman of the federation Weng Wenlei believes that the proposed solution will not only relieve the burden placed on grandparents, but also encourage working women to have a second child.
[Image via Shanghai Daily]
