A number of groups yesterday pledged support to a new policy announced by the Executive Yuan to subsidize childcare by certified nannies for children under the age of two.
"We think that this will be a step forward, both for working families and for the healthy development of certified nanny programs in this country," Alliance for Integrated Childcare Policy convener Liu Yu-hsiu (
Also in agreement with the program is Roscher Lin (
"Unlike the unworkable maternity leave policy, this benefit will help businesses," Lin said.
The Executive Yuan announced on Wednesday that a monthly benefit of NT$3,000 per infant will be given to families who qualify for the scheme to go toward the cost of leaving the child with a certified nanny while both parents work. In addition, families earning more than NT$1.5 million a year are excluded from the scheme.
Single parents are also eligible for the benefit as long as they are working. Even those who work from home are eligible as long as they pay taxes on their work-derived income. Supporters of the scheme say that working families and the nation's flagging birth rate will benefit. Last year, according to Ministry of the Interior figures, women in this country give birth to 1.12 children on average.
However, the benefit will only cover roughly one-fifth of the NT$15,000 that is the estimated minimum monthly cost of leaving an infant in a certified nanny's care. Families who chose institutional daycare centers or to ask relatives to look after the infant will not be eligible for the benefit, prompting some parents to ask if the benefit will really help them.
"We decided to support certified nannies over daycare centers because they are better able to focus on the infants," said Chang Sy-ning (張思寧), a childcare and development professor at Hung-kuang University, who had been consulted by the Executive Yuan while formulating the policy.
However, the policy does not necessarily cheer up all parents.
Mr Yang (
"This is an unfair rule that excludes too many families," he told the Taipei Times while not wanting to be fully identified. "I don't believe nannies can provide better care for the kids than their own grandparents."
Chang disagreed.
"The traditional attitudes toward young kids is, `see that they don't get into trouble.' But a properly trained care provider aids the child's verbal and physical development through structured play and exercises," she said.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, was arrested in Boston last month amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday. The arrest of Liou was first made public on the official Web site of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday. ICE said Liou was apprehended for overstaying her visa. The Boston Field Office’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) had arrested Liou, a “fugitive, criminal alien wanted for embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes in Taiwan,” ICE said. Liou was taken into custody
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe