Sanmin Daycare Center (三民託嬰中心), the first public daycare in Taichung’s coastal districts opened Friday in the city’s Wuci District (梧棲).
Photo: CNA
The new daycare center is the city’s 34th public daycare, and the first within its coastal area, Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) said, adding that tuition at the center is only NT$1,500 per month.
Lu said that when she first took office there were only five public daycares across the city’s 29 districts, and today there are 34 – an increase of nearly five times.
“We aim to make Taichung a paradise for those who are willing to raise children,” she said.
Fees at the city’s public daycare centers are NT$7,000 per month, but NT$5,500 of that is subsidized by the government, so families need only pay NT$1,500 per month, she said.
The new daycare is part of a larger social-welfare center that also includes facilities for older adults and the disabled, she said.
“Taichung’s public daycare tuition is the lowest in the country, and the city’s one-time maternity benefit payment was doubled in recent years from NT$10,000 to NT$20,000,” Taichung Social Affairs Bureau Director Liao Ching-chih (廖靜芝) said.
“We also have plans to open public daycares in Sinshe (新社), Wurih (烏日), Situn (西屯), Longjing (龍井) and Waipu (外埔) districts.”
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said that a surge in respiratory illnesses in China has been caused by at least seven types of pathogens, and small children, elderly people and immunocompromised people should temporarily avoid unnecessary visits to China. The recent outbreak of respiratory illnesses in China is mainly in the north and among children, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said on Monday. Data released by the Chinese National Health Commission on Sunday showed that among children aged one to four, the main pathogens were influenza viruses and rhinoviruses, while among children aged five to 14, the main pathogens
A New Taipei City hotpot restaurant could be fined after a rat dropped from the ceiling and landed on a customer’s plate last week, the New Taipei City Department of Health said yesterday after conducting an inspection. A woman recently posted on the “I am a Banciao resident” (我是板橋人) social media group saying that she had been eating with a friend at Chien Tu Shabu Shabu Hotpot Restaurant’s Shuangshi B branch in Banciao District (板橋). “While still eating, a big rat suddenly dropped down from the ceiling, landing on a plate next to a hotpot,” she said. “Later on, a member of
A new poll of Taiwanese voters found the top opposition candidate for president jumping past the ruling party’s hopeful into the lead position ahead of January’s election — the latest twist in a drama-filled race. Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) had an approval rating of 31.9 percent versus 29.2 percent for the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the poll released yesterday by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation showed. The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), ranked third with 23.6 percent, according to the survey conducted
INCENTIVES: The province’s ‘21 measures’ include enhanced agricultural loans for Taiwanese farmers, and rent waivers and housing subsidies for Taiwanese start-ups China’s Fujian Province on Monday began implementing 15 economic measures targeting Taiwanese in its latest bid to fan pro-Beijing sentiment ahead of the Jan. 13 elections. Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency said the policies were part of “21 measures” unveiled in September by China for Fujian’s “integrated cross-strait development demonstration zone.” The partially implemented measures, which were created with input from Beijing, include reducing the wait time for Taiwanese applying for a visa from 20 days to five days and free public transit for Taiwanese older than 65, it said. Residents of Taiwan were granted use of the “all provincial Taiwanese entrepreneur compatriot