Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) yesterday announced that the city government has raised the minimum monthly salary of childcare providers at privately managed nurseries funded by the government to NT$38,000, and that it is working to lower the maximum childcare ratio to one adult to four children.
Chiang said he has three children, including two younger than two years old, so he understands the difficulties and stress that childcare providers experience.
“Therefore, we have good news for childcare providers — the Taipei City Government is raising the minimum salary of childcare providers to NT$38,000,” he said while visiting a public nursery in Nangang District (南港).
Photo: CNA
The minimum salary stood at NT$34,000 before the central government raised it to NT$35,485 last year. The city government raised it further to NT$38,000, retroactive to January.
“Moreover, the [maximum] child-to-provider ratio will be lowered from 5:1 to 4:1,” he said. “It is to reduce the childcare providers’ burden and improve education and care quality,” he said.
There are currently 81 privately managed, publicly funded childcare facilities in the city, and the city government hopes to increase the number to 103 by 2026, and the care capacity from about 1,700 to about 2,200 young children.
“As we increase the number of public childcare facilities, we hope to improve the working conditions of childcare providers, so they can have less concerns when taking care of children,” he said.
An estimated 512 childcare providers should benefit from the salary increase, he said.
Chiang added that discussions abound about artificial intelligence (AI) systems replacing human workers in certain jobs, but the experience and professional abilities of childcare providers, including their affection, can never be replaced by AI systems, so the city hopes to improve their working conditions and nurture more excellent childcare staff.
Separately, the mayor was asked to comment on Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Chien Hsu-pei’s (簡舒培) report that a Chinese temporary worker at the city government had uploaded several short videos of Chiang at different events to Douyin (抖音), the Chinese version of TikTok, accompanied by a hashtag “The two sides of the Strait are one family.”
Chiang said that based on the city government’s understanding, the worker was hired by the city’s health department in August last year using the Ministry of Labor’s job matching site.
The worker only handled general affairs and transportation-
related work, and did not deal with confidential data, he said, adding that she has left the job.
He said the city government would also remind city workers not to conduct non-work-related activities at work.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
RSS