The Measures for the Management of Family Childcare Sites (Trial) (Draft for Comments) is open to the public for comments
How to "bring a baby" in a family childcare center
It is difficult to give birth and raise even more difficult, especially the childcare before the age of three, which makes many parents worry. In recent years, many places have begun to try family childcare. Not long ago, the Measures for the Management of Family Childcare Sites (Trial) (Draft for Comments) were released to the public for comments. Family childcare centres have also begun to be regulated at the national level.
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At 5 p.m., after dropping off all the children safely, Wen Li and her colleagues cleaned up their rooms and clocked out at the nursery point. What followed was a weekend without helping others with their children, and Wenli could concentrate on spending time with her own children.
In 2016, Wenli switched from K12 education and training to family childcare. "At that time, I accidentally saw a nursery site in the community, and I began to understand this industry, and I felt that it was very promising." With expectations for the future, Wenli has opened 3 more nursery centers. During her pregnancy, she gave away all the nursery points. At the beginning of this year, the baby turned one year old, and faced with the dual pressure of returning to the workplace and raising children, she returned to a family childcare point and regained her original expectations.
She has operated several family childcare centers before and after, but there have been no specific regulations in related fields, which makes Wenli a little worried. "The state will not outlaw family childcare." She used to be very apprehensive about this. And a recent notice gave her hope.
On March 3 this year, in order to standardize the development of various forms of childcare services, the Population and Family Department of the National Health Commission recently issued the Measures for the Management of Family Childcare Sites (Trial) (Draft for Comments) (hereinafter referred to as the "Draft for Comments") to solicit public opinions. At the national level, family childcare centres have been regulated.
"I'm looking forward to it, which means that family childcare will further move towards legal compliance." In the past few years, Wen Li believes that family childcare lacks such a guidance document, and after the release of the draft for comments, some of the standards for setting the number of people in care, the ratio of caregivers to the number of people in care have also attracted attention and discussion in the society.
About 1400 million families with infants and toddlers have strong needs for childcare
In 2017, the report of the 3th National Congress of the Communist Party of China first mentioned "early education" as an important part of ensuring and improving people's livelihood. In recent years, China's childcare services related policies and regulations have been promulgated one after another, including the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Development of Infant and Child Care Services for Children Under <> Years Old", and many documents, "family-type childcare" or "family childcare points" have been frequently mentioned.
What is Family Childcare? Family childcare is a new type of childcare compared to institutional centralized childcare. Xiao Zihua and others in the research group of the Floating Population Service Center of the National Health Commission believe that the basis of "family-type childcare" is the concept of "neighborhood care and common support for the whole village", which exists in traditional society. Family childcare is a way to realize family-based childcare.
The Draft clearly states that a family childcare point refers to a place that uses housing to provide full-day care, half-day care, timed care, temporary childcare and other childcare services for infants and toddlers under the age of 3 (hereinafter referred to as "infants"), and the number of trustees should not exceed five. "The above definition highlights the childcare location, service form, recipients, number of trustees, etc. of family childcare points, and the definition will be clearer in the actual landing process." Wang Xiaohua, a professor at the School of Social Development and Public Policy of Beijing Normal University, told a reporter from China Youth Daily.
In fact, before the publication of the consultation draft, institutions providing similar family childcare services were already widely available, but there was no regulation to speak of. "The issuance of the draft for comments announces the state's recognition of family childcare centers, and at the same time gives the people a 'reassuring pill'." Professor Mao Zhuoyan, deputy director of the Population Development Research Center of Capital University of Economics and Business, said that family childcare points need to be developed in supervision and requirements.
In 2017, Lin Shaohui resigned from a foreign company and started her entrepreneurial career in the field of family-based childcare with her living room on the 27th floor as her starting point. From the 27th floor to all parts of the country, according to Lin Shaohui, up to now, the childcare brand she founded has set up more than 80 childcare points.
Zhou Jiahao entered the childcare industry in 2018, focusing on family-based childcare, and is currently a technical partner of a family-based childcare brand that has nearly 60 childcare sites nationwide. "Behind family-based childcare is a huge demand in the childcare market." Zhou Jiahao said.
The results of the seventh national census show that the average household size in China has decreased from 2000.3 in 44 to 2020.2 in 62. According to data released by the Population and Family Department of the National Health Commission in 2021, there are about 0 million infants and young children aged 3 to 4200 in China, of which one-third (about 1 million) have a relatively strong demand for childcare services, but the survey shows that the overall infant and toddler enrollment rate in China is only 3.1400%.
Corresponding to the huge demand is a huge gap in childcare services. According to the Family Planning Association of China, only about 2021% of childcare needs were met in 4.
In 2021, the 3th Five-Year Plan proposed that "the number of nurseries for infants under the age of 3 per 2020,1 population" be included as the main indicator of economic and social development, and "the number of nurseries for infants and toddlers under the age of 8 per 2025,4 population will increase from 5.<> in <> to <>.<> in <>." ”
"According to the 2020 National Childcare Service Survey, the current use of residential childcare places provides about one-tenth of the country's childcare places, but many of them are organized by institutions, and the number of nurseries is large, the safety risks are greater, the neighborhood relationship is relatively tense, and it is also difficult to supervise, which is not conducive to the good development of family childcare, so it is imperative to standardize and develop family childcare points." Wang Xiaohua said.
The restriction that the number of trustees should not exceed 5 has attracted attention
In general, the Draft for Comments mainly stipulates in detail the business premises, average student area, childcare form, number of persons to be carried, filing conditions, and care personnel.
"Regarding the number of people receiving no more than five, we think that adjustments are needed." After the draft for comments was announced, Zhou Jiahao chatted with his peers for the first time. According to him, the most discussed provisions are the restrictions on the number of people in family care points and the ratio of caregivers to the number of caregivers.
The draft calls for comments that the number of people in each family care site should not exceed 5, and that each caregiver at the family care point should take care of a maximum of 3 infants and young children. In this way, a family childcare point is almost the configuration of two caregivers to care for five infants and toddlers.
It is understood that the current family childcare points on the market are mainly divided into two types, "institutional operation" family childcare points and "family mutual aid childcare", although they are both provided in residential childcare services, but the former operation body is a childcare institution, and the latter is more "Baoma".
Lin Shaohui said that from the perspective of operation model, her family-type childcare brand is mostly "institutionally operated" family childcare points, which are opened in residential areas in the community, and the number of nursery points in a single nursery point is 15-20 infants. "This operating model is common in the market." She said. Zhou Jiahao also told reporters that his brand also operates family childcare points in a business-based model, rather than "mutual aid".
"At most 5 people, the ratio of caregivers to the number of caregivers cannot exceed 1:3, which is not cost-effective from the perspective of financial profit model." Lin Shaohui took Qingdao as an example and calculated an account for the reporter: 5 infants and toddlers are equipped with at least 2 caregivers, and the childcare fee is calculated according to 3000,15 yuan per month, excluding rent, water and electricity, food expenses, personnel salaries and other expenses, the monthly profit of the nursery point is only a few thousand yuan. "For 'institutionally operated' family childcare centers that take care of 20-2 infants and toddlers, the monthly profit can exceed <>,<> yuan." Lin Shaohui believes that the provisions on the number of trustees in the draft limit the profit space of family childcare centers to a certain extent.
Zhou Jiahao also told reporters that from the perspective of commercial organizations, it is difficult to make a profit by taking in up to 5 infants and toddlers. "Our monthly rent at our nursery center in Beijing has reached more than <>,<> yuan, and according to the above standards, it is difficult to achieve profitability even if the cost of taking care of the staff is not included."
"Family childcare sites defined in the Draft prefer to open some or all of the space in their own homes, but limit the number of people who receive them." Lin Shaohui believes that this is in line with the foreign family care model.
In 2017, Lin Shaohui established her brand by borrowing from the foreign model of "family mutual aid childcare". "That's why my first campus was in my own living room." According to reports, the above-mentioned "family mutual aid childcare" does not limit the floor, the number of infants and young children is limited to 4-7 people, and reasonable control of the number of caregivers can achieve certain profits.
However, in the later small-scale promotion, Lin Shaohui found that the market acceptance of "family mutual aid childcare" was not high, so in her brand, the proportion of family childcare points in the current "partial institutional operation model" was higher.
Zhou Jiahao also believes that the above standards are more inclined to support "family mutual childcare", but he still has expectations for the policy. "The process of policy legislation may be from tight to loose, and I hope that the policy will be adjusted appropriately in terms of the number of trustees in the future."
Regarding the limit on the number of trustees, Wang Xiaohua told reporters: "The size of five people takes into account factors such as safety and disturbance, and if the scale is expanded, the floor will inevitably have requirements, so that a large number of institutions will flood into the residence, which is not fair to the institutions currently operating in the commercial area." At the same time, she also said that the ratio of 5:1 is different from institutional childcare and kindergarten, coupled with the provisions on the qualifications of childcare personnel, to a large extent, determines the quality of family childcare, highlighting the essence of "small but fine".
Inescapable neighborhoods
"Why is the 'kindergarten' located in a residential building" "It's very noisy, do you really comply with the law"... Since setting up a family childcare center in the community, Zhang Qian has been complained by neighbors more than once.
"From the property, to the community, to the street, almost everywhere we have received complaints about our nursery sites, and even the police have come to us." Zhang Qian helplessly said that there are many elderly people in her community, and many people mistakenly think that the nursery point is a kindergarten, and it takes more effort to deal with neighborhood relations. To this end, she often sends small gifts to neighbors and makes some holiday greetings when encountering holidays.
Wen Li once had to remove the entire nursery because of complaints. "In our industry, the most feared thing is complaints from residents." With that lesson, Wenli learned to be flexible, and the current location of her family nursery site is carefully chosen. "We are on the first floor, the house upstairs has not yet been sold, there are still many supermarkets and rookie stations in the community, and the residents are relatively inclusive." She said.
Because the operating premises of family childcare centers are residential, the draft for comments released this time stipulates how to deal with neighborhood relations after the operation of childcare centers: village (resident) committees should strengthen supervision of family childcare centers, guide family childcare centers to respect the rights of neighboring owners, and standardize the development of childcare services.
Zhou Jiahao is usually responsible for the site selection of each childcare site. He said that when choosing a site, he should try to avoid complaints and other problems. First of all, we must communicate with neighbors, industry committees, etc., and at the same time investigate and observe the environment of the community, if there is commercial behavior itself, it means that the commercial environment of the community is relatively loose, and you can do it first. "If there are still complaints later, it will say that our own mother has hired a teacher to help bring the child here." But he also pointed out that this argument is still not a long-term solution, and it still needs to be supported by policies.
Li Qian, a caregiver at a family childcare center in Beijing's Haidian District, believes that to do a good job in family childcare, it is necessary to deal with the relationship between neighbors. "We have also encountered complaints, but they have been handled well, and now many parents around will give us toys that their children do not play with."
"They often take the children downstairs to play, and sometimes they take our children to play together, and I can still be lazy." A resident of the same community said.
It is worth noting that the draft for comments this time focuses on the issue of "housing reform business" involved in the establishment of family childcare centers, but has not yet been explained in more detail.
The Draft points out that the establishment of family childcare centers should comply with the relevant provisions of local governments on the registration of residential buildings as business premises, and apply for registration with the local market supervision department in accordance with the law. Article 279 of the Civil Code stipulates that the owner shall not violate laws, regulations and management regulations by converting a residence into a commercial property. Where an owner converts a residence into a commercial property, in addition to complying with laws, regulations and management regulations, the unanimous consent of the interested owners shall be obtained.
This means that the registration of family childcare sites using residential premises as business premises requires the unanimous consent of the relevant owners in the community, and the treatment of "neighborhood relations" cannot be bypassed.
Lin Shaohui believes that the conversion of residential to commercial use and the provisions of the Civil Code on neighborhood adjacent rights and owners' adjacent rights are the first difficulties to be overcome by the business model of family childcare, "which is something that no practitioner can avoid." To this end, she hopes that the relevant departments can make some institutional innovations in the reform of commercial subjects, so as to further promote the promotion and implementation of family care points.
Wang Xiaohua pointed out that the regulations on "housing reform and commerce" in different places are still different, and there are no clear provisions in the draft for comments, in fact, it is also hoped to give local governments a certain space. At the same time, she also said that the upper limit of 5 people in the civil code is also taking into account the provisions of the Civil Code on "housing to business". "First of all, the number of people is small, it will not disturb the people, and at the same time, the family care center is a neighborhood mutual help, which helps to strengthen neighborhood relations."
Local policies may be indicated
"When I first started in the industry, I thought that home care was a form of kindergarten." At first, Wen Li felt that her job was only to help parents who did not have time to bring up their children, but after a while, she changed her mind, "Family care is not only childcare, but also childcare." ”
At present, Wenli's family childcare center refers to the "Management Standards for Childcare Institutions (Trial)" on the one hand, and other local pilot policies that have been implemented on the other hand.
In December 2021, the list of provincial-level family care pilot counties (cities and districts) in Shandong Province was announced, and 12 urban areas including Jinan High-tech Zone, Qingdao Chengyang District and Yantai Zhifu District were listed. According to reports, the main task of this work is to actively explore the management and service model of family childcare through the pilot construction of family childcare, and summarize a number of typical experience and practices that can be replicated and promoted.
After the pilot was launched, the implementation of relevant policies of local governments varied, among which Yantai, Linyi and Jinan achieved more abundant results. On June 2022, 6, Lin Shaohui's brand officially obtained the childcare institution filing receipt at a family nursery point in Zhifu District, Yantai, Shandong. "This is equivalent to an operating license in a ride-hailing service." Lin Shaohui believes that this receipt is very valuable, "it represents the family-based childcare service in the residence towards legal compliance."
On November 2022, 11, Jinan issued a notice on the Administrative Measures for Family Childcare Sites in Jinan (Trial) (hereinafter referred to as the "Administrative Measures"). The Administrative Measures clarify the application and filing process for family childcare centers, forming a normal management mechanism for family childcare centers. In the pilot, Jinan City has built the "Quanxin Care" family childcare point care project to benefit the people, and the Jinan Childcare Service Industry Association has completed the basic qualification training of family childcare points and special training for family childcare organizers and practitioners.
In addition to Shandong, Zhejiang is also actively deploying family care points. In October 2022, four departments of Zhejiang Province jointly released the pilot work plan for inclusive childcare basic public services, and a total of 10 counties (cities and districts) in the province were included in the pilot areas, and the construction of family childcare points is one of the work contents.
It is understood that at present, Zhejiang's family childcare centers also have two forms: "institutional operation" family childcare and "family mutual aid childcare". At present, 5 "institutional-operated" family childcare centers have been built in Taizhou. On Internet social platforms, many mothers publish advertisements to provide mutual aid family childcare services for the public.
According to Zhou Jiahao, who visited Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, in practice, practitioners who had registered childcare institutions were allowed to attach family childcare points to childcare institutions, thereby reducing the difficulty of registering family childcare sites.
The reporter learned that shortly before the release of the draft for comments, the Shenzhen Municipal Health Commission issued a notice to the health administrative departments of various districts in Shenzhen and the Municipal Infant Care Service Guidance Center (Municipal Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital) on soliciting opinions on the "Shenzhen Family Care Point Setting Guide" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guide"). According to Zhou Jiahao, unlike the draft for comments, the guidelines stipulate that family childcare sites should reasonably determine the scale of childcare according to the area and floor of the site, and the maximum number of infants and toddlers should not exceed 20 (including the children of staff in kindergarten). The care ratio is reasonably determined according to the floor and the age of the infants and young children. Among them, the ratio of nursery personnel to infants and young children should not be lower than the following standards: 18:1 under 3 months, and 18:1 under 5 months and above. In this regard, many interviewed family care practitioners agreed that it was feasible.
In addition to family childcare centers, many regions have also begun to explore the integration of childcare services to enrich the supply of childcare services. On January 2023, 1, the Shanghai Regulations on Preschool Education and Childcare Services came into effect, covering the age group of children aged 1 to 0, marking the first step in the country to reform the integrated legal guarantee of childcare and childcare. At the same time, Shanghai continues to promote the construction of community childcare points "baby houses", providing temporary and timed childcare services for school-age children aged 6-1, and striving to create a "3-minute childcare service circle".
After joining the nursery point, Li Qianfa's circle of friends gradually became photos of the children in the nursery point, and the nursery point made graduation albums for each "graduated" child. "This is Little Egg, she just came back from Taiwan; This is Xiaoyezi, she came when she was 5 months old; This is Niannian, already in kindergarten..." After becoming a caregiver, Li Qian can clearly remember the situation of each child.
(At the request of interviewees, Wen Chinese Li and Li Qian are pseudonyms)
Jia Jiye, trainee reporter of China Youth Daily Source: China Youth Daily