The Taipei City Council is to offer parents a monthly daycare subsidy of NT$3,000 (US$100) to encourage the use of certified centers.
The new policy, which is scheduled to start from July, applies to children aged two years or younger and is set to benefit about 1,000 families who are paying an average of NT$18,000 in monthly private daycare center fees.
The council says it will also boost inspections of private daycare centers.
Departmental division head Tu Tzu-jung (杜慈容) said at least half of the city’s 67 private daycare centers in Taipei should qualify as certified centers with a reasonable fee policy, service commitment and infrastructure quality.
More than NT$20 million is to be set aside for the policy.
Department Commissioner Wang Hao (王浩) said the policy would not be earnings-based, because the department wanted all families to be able to take advantage of private daycare centers.
“Taipei is the first city to offer parents a daycare subsidy, and it is part of our efforts to ease the financial burden on parents and create a better environment for people to raise children in Taipei,” Wang said.
The list of certified centers will be posted on the department Web site once the inspections are completed.
Meanwhile, 12 new public daycare centers for infants aged two years and below will be established, one in each of the city’s 12 districts by next month.
Tu said the city is planning at least two public daycare centers in each district, with each center accommodating up to 40 toddlers and employing certified teachers and nursing staff.
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