Infant abuse is on the rise, with more than 2,000 cases reported annually, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said in a report on Tuesday.
Department of Protective Services Director-General Chang Hsiu-yuan (張秀鴛) said that the rise in reported cases was due to increased alertness among the public, adding that parents are responsible in 84 percent of cases.
Taiwan Developmentally Appropriate Practices College deputy secretary-general Yang Pei-lian (楊珮璉) said that first-time mothers are often confused about what to do when their child cries.
This shows the need for better parenting education, as well as resources to help working parents.
Parenting skills, along with financial management and other practical life skills, are typically taught as part of secondary education in the form of home economics classes, but they are elective in Taiwan, with most students opting not to take them. If they were mandatory, home economics classes would help instill important values in young people, teaching the importance of equal involvement in household chores, and about money management, stress management and basic childcare skills.
Increasingly, young couples live away from their parents and grandparents, which presents challenges when they have children. Being away from family members means new parents have little guidance when questions about childcare arise. The likelihood of new parents having older family members to help with questions is also decreasing as people put off childbirth until later in life.
While new mothers receive some instruction at postpartum centers, they frequently turn to online support groups or video tutorials. Support groups can sometimes be helpful as a means of emotional support, but they often contradict each other, while mothers might receive bad advice from people who have no professional training.
One solution might be for the government to provide free or subsidized childcare consultation services. However, for this to be effective, it would have to be in the form of an online or over-the-phone system. Working parents would likely not have time to seek in-person assistance.
Alternatively, the government could mandate that employers allow time off for parenting classes or could arrange for consultants to visit parents at home to provide them with guidance and assistance.
It is not solely a lack of childcare skills that leads to parental stress and even child abuse — there is also the issue of financial stress. The number of public daycares in Taiwan is grossly inadequate, and housing, even the rental market, is prohibitively expensive for most young couples.
Academia Sinica Institute of Sociology research fellow Alice Cheng (鄭雁馨) said that unaffordable housing and a lack of daycare options have contributed to Taiwan’s low birthrate.
Most couples put off marriage and childbirth due to these factors, and those who do have children often need to work excessively long hours due to the high cost of living on top of private daycare. Overwork means less time to spend with children and less patience.
The government should seek to reduce the burden on parents, particularly as it has already acknowledged that a rapidly aging population and declining birthrate are national security concerns.
Many studies link parental stress to child abuse. The government could help by assisting parents with housing and daycare costs. At the same time, services to help parents better understand and respond to their children’s behavior should be more accessible.
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