New Taipei City Councilor Criticizes Government for Neglecting Rural Childcare Needs

New Taipei City Councilor Chen Nai-yu is demanding that the city government address the critical shortage of public childcare facilities in rural areas. She argues that the government's current approach, which relies heavily on infant population numbers, is a "digital bureaucracy" that neglects the needs of communities like Wulai and Pinglin.

Chen stated that the city government's written response to her inquiry indicated a benchmark of "200 or more infants aged 0 to under 2" for establishing public childcare centers. Based on this, Wulai, with only 106 infants, and Pinglin, with just 25, are deemed insufficient for such facilities. Instead, the city offers "public parent-child centers" and temporary care services as a substitute.

"The city government is using public parent-child centers as a shield, which is misleading and perfunctory," Chen asserted. She explained that these centers primarily offer play activities and parenting workshops, failing to meet the urgent, daily, long-term childcare demands of working parents. Chen emphasized that lower population numbers in rural areas should be a reason for the government to proactively increase resources, not an excuse to refuse essential services.

Chen pointed out that the existence of childcare worker training programs and local graduates in these areas demonstrates a latent demand and potential workforce. She accused the city government of dereliction of duty for failing to establish a systematic public childcare support system. "Rural children should not be ignored or forgotten," Chen urged, calling for a review of the childcare establishment standards to remove population-based restrictions and create tailored, institutionalized childcare solutions for these communities.