The participation of local governments is required to implement public childcare that covers children from birth to age 12, and 16 candidates running for mayor or county commissioner have signed letters committing themselves to pushing through needed policies once elected, the Childcare Policy Alliance said yesterday.
Among the 16 candidates who signed the commitment letters were Taipei mayoral candidates Pasuya Yao (姚文智) of the Democratic Progressive Party , Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and incumbent Ko Wen-je (柯文哲).
The alliance presented two line graphs — the rate at which women participate in the workforce and the rate at which children from three months to five years old are cared for outside of the home — with rates listed for Taiwan, Denmark, Germany, Japan and South Korea.
The first graph showed that Taiwanese women aged 25 to 29 had the highest rate of workforce participation among the compared nations, but that from age 30 to 65, the rate steadily dropped off, reflecting the number of women leaving jobs to care for children due to insufficient public childcare, Alliance convener Liu Yu-hsiu (劉毓秀) said.
The second graph showed that, among the compared nations, Taiwan had the lowest rate of childcare outside the home for children under five years old, Liu added.
The alliance said that public childcare coverage was highest in Denmark for all age groups, at nearly 50 percent for children under two years old and 90 percent after two years old, creating an environment friendly to double-income families and encouraging a sustainable level of replacement fertility.
Some couples are unwilling to give birth to more children because the lottery rate for going to public preschools is low and many are worried about the price and quality of private preschools, it said, adding that often the mother or the grandmother must quit their job to care for children.
Awakening Foundation policy director Chyn Yu-rung (覃玉蓉) said she strongly feels that many pregnant women in Taiwan are desperately worried about childcare options, and that having sufficient public childcare would give women the option of continuing to work.
The alliance said that the rate of children under two years old that are enrolled in public nurseries or being cared for by registered babysitters through a subsidy is only about 7 percent, the rate of children aged two to six years old enrolled in public or non-profit preschools is about 19 percent and the rate of elementary-school students enrolled in after-school childcare services is about 14 percent.
The alliance urged local governments to show determination in creating a childcare friendly environment for double-income families, and increasing public and non-profit childcare, with continuous care until the age of 12.
Tropical depression TD22, which was over waters south of the Ryukyu Islands, is likely to develop into a tropical storm by this morning and pose a significant threat to Taiwan next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The depression is likely to strengthen into a tropical storm named Krathon as it moves south and then veers north toward waters off Taiwan’s eastern coast, CWA forecaster Hsu Chung-yi (徐仲毅) said. Given the favorable environmental conditions for its development, TD22’s intensity would reach at least typhoon levels, Hsu said. As of 2pm yesterday, the tropical depression was about 610km east-southeast of Taiwan proper’s
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
Typhoon Krathon, a military airshow and rehearsals for Double Ten National Day celebrations might disrupt flights at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the first 10 days of next month, the airport’s operator said yesterday. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a statement that it has established a response center after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Krathon, and urged passengers to remain alert to the possibility of disruptions caused by the storm in the coming days. Flight schedules might also change while the air force conducts rehearsals and holds a final airshow for Double Ten National Day, it added. Although
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
RSS