A petition on childcare policy reform has garnered cross-party support from 28 county commissioner and mayoral candidates running in the nine-in-one elections, a coalition of civic groups said yesterday, urging the public to use the Nov. 29 vote to tackle the nation’s dwindling birthrate, which they said has become a “matter of national security.”
The activists said their vote would go to candidates who supports public childcare, saying that if childcare reforms are not carried out and the birthrate continues to fall, it will jeopardize the nation’s economic development.
Led by Childcare Policy Alliance convener Liu Yu-hsiu (劉毓秀), the activists said that the low number of public preschools and unaffordable private childcare have deterred couples from having children, which could worsen the aging of the population, reduce the workforce and lower tax revenues.
Private for-profit preschools often charge up to NT$20,000 per month, while the average monthly income of workers aged 25 to 29 is NT$31,046 (US$1,000), Liu said, citing statistics from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.
Several women’s rights groups are also backing the petition, saying that affordable, high-quality childcare is crucial to helping mothers maintain their careers.
“Since our society often places childrearing responsibilities on women, many women face a dilemma of whether to terminate their careers after giving birth,” said Chyn Yu-rong (覃玉蓉), policy director at the Awakening Foundation.
Alliance of Educare Trade Unions representative Lee Wen-li (李雯莉) said childcare workers at for-profit preschools have long working hours and low salaries. She said they can better utilize their skills at public daycare facilities, where their rights would be protected more thoroughly.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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