In the coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong Province, Liu Pei, mother to a 5-year-old and an infant, was happy to see a draft government document on piloting home-based nurseries, published on March 15 to solicit public feedback.

Released by the Department of Population Surveillance and Family Development under the National Health Commission (NHC), the draft defines the home-based nursery as "a service where residential housing is used to provide full- or half-day care, temporary care or other daycare services for children under the age of 3." It further stipulates procedures for business license applications, as well as specific requirements for caregivers and the spaces where they will look after the children.

This type of home-based childcare service responds to the ever-more-pressing problem of China's busy parents trying to secure daycare for their offspring.

"Neither my husband nor I are stay-at-home parents, so we're kind of relieved to see such official policies and services popping up. I'm also planning to submit my suggestions and concerns regarding the document—about the detailed qualifications of caregivers, for example—to the authorities via e-mail," Liu told Beijing Review.

"Given a person's early childhood is vital to their physical and psychological growth, this service offers a good alternative for those parents on the lookout for professional childcare and early childhood education," Wuyun Gaowa, an expert on child psychology and preschool education from the Teacher's College at Beijing Union University, told Beijing Review.

Burnout no more

Generally speaking, children aged 3-6 in China go to kindergarten. As of 2021, about 88.1 percent of children in this age group were enrolled in kindergartens, according to the Ministry of Education.

Those aged 0-3 are mostly taken care by their families. Multiple generations living under one roof has long been a cultural tradition in China. Today, many grandparents still help to take care of their grandchildren. Another slightly more costly option when the parents are too busy bringing home the bacon and there are no grandparents to turn to, is to hire a nanny.

Wuyun Gaowa believes the establishment of home-based daycare facilities is a positive addition to the country's childcare system and reflects the country's efforts to meet the ever-more diverse demands of families.

"I see it as very good news for mothers, many of whom were too tied up with trivial family stuff to pursue a career and personal dreams," Wuyun Gaowa said, adding it also echoes changing views on parenthood and parenting styles in a developing China.

As many parents increasingly believe that toddler rearing comes with a host of complexities that at times stretch well beyond their own abilities, home-based childcare facilities can offer professional assistance.

"From birth to age 3, a child's brain develops more than at any other time in life. Children develop their senses of touch, taste and smell, as well as the ability to absorb new knowledge and form habits. The functions and influences of daycare centers and kindergartens are even greater at this stage than during any other educational phase," Wuyun Gaowa said.

Echoing Wuyun Gaowa, Peng Hailei, a preschool education professor at the Teacher's College at Beijing Union University, said parents today have upgraded their demands for early childhood education and are willing to spend more money on qualified professionals, targeted services and a sound environment for the sake of their young children's better development.

According to the NHC's Department of Population Surveillance and Family Development, currently, China has about 32.2 million children under the age of 3, and more than 30 percent of families with babies have a strong need for childcare services. Yet the actual enrollment rate of children in these facilities is under 6 percent. Plus, demand in first-tier cities far outweighs the national average.

Meeting social needs

China has adjusted its family planning policy several times in recent years, allowing all couples to have two children since 2016 and three children since May 2021, and has rolled out a series of supportive measures to encourage childbirth.

The country faces an era of low fertility. Its overall population fell by 850,000 year on year to 1.41 billion in 2022, the National Bureau of Statistics announced in January. This was the first time China had registered negative population growth in 61 years.

About 9.56 million babies were born last year, a decline of 1.06 million compared with the 2021 number. The birth rate stood at 6.77 births per 1,000 people in 2022, down from 7.52 in 2021. Both figures were the lowest since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

The home-based childcare service is part of China's determination to improve its population development strategy, establish a policy system to boost birth rates and bring down the costs of pregnancy, childbirth, child rearing and schooling. This goal was stated in the report approved at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October last year—which charted the way forward for the Party and the country alike.

The regulation for home-based childcare has also addressed concerns over the quality and safety of childcare. It stipulates that home-based childcare agencies can look after no more than five children, with every caregiver tending to a maximum of three children, at once. Caregivers should be experienced or have an educational background in nursery care or child health and development, and receive additional training in mental health, food safety, first aid and fire safety. People with a history of mental illness or criminal record are barred from the occupation.

Daycare providers are also required to install video surveillance cameras covering all living and play areas and footage should be stored for at least 90 days, the document states.

Areas for improvement

While some applaud home-based nurseries, some professionals in the field have their concerns about the draft regulation. For example, Zhou Jiahao, manager of the commerce department of toddler daycare company Jimizhijia in Beijing, believes that the cap on the number of enrolled children will limit profitability for service providers and hence hinder their development.

Another obstacle is the lack of professionals that parents can fully trust. Fortunately, higher educational institutions have already accelerated related teaching and training. In 2022, vocational colleges nationwide registered more than 3,400 programs associated with toddler rearing, an increase of 12.8 percent compared to 2021. And more than 430 universities nationwide now offer undergraduate programs in preschool education.

Wuyun Gaowa also believes the laws and regulations, as well as the training of childcare professionals and the evaluation system of facilities, must catch up with the development. "Based on standardized management, each facility should be encouraged to leverage its unique advantages and specialty to provide diverse services. For example, some can specialize in sports and others in art—offering more choices for both toddlers and parents," she said.

The current rules for home-based childcare facilities are oriented toward urban areas; things may be rather different in the country's vast rural areas due to several factors. For example, many rural residents may not be able to afford daycare and then there are the many left-behind children—referring to rural children who are left at home when both or one of their parents migrate to the urban areas for work. Coming up with toddler-rearing solutions customized to the Chinese countryside will require a lot more study and research.

Peng said with China's urbanization drive, the country's rural population is decreasing. But this should not be a reason to overlook the importance of the development of village nurseries.

"More such services should become available in places where rural workers migrate to, in a bid to ensure a fair distribution of educational resources across urban and rural areas," Peng said.

(Print Edition Title: Lending a Rearing Hand)

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon

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