Taipei City Councilor urges increased childcare retention subsidies, proposes 10-year tenure bracket

Taipei City Councilor Li Ming-hsien has urged the city government to raise retention subsidies for childcare workers and consider introducing a new tenure bracket for experienced professionals. This call comes amid Taiwan's severe low birth rate crisis, where retaining qualified childcare staff is seen as crucial.

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The gap between private and public childcare workers' salaries is significant.

During a questioning session at the Taipei City Council, Li highlighted a substantial salary disparity between private childcare providers and their counterparts in public institutions. He noted that private childcare workers typically earn around NT$30,000 per month, while public childcare workers, often possessing teaching qualifications, earn closer to NT$44,000.

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The current subsidy incentives are insufficient, and there is a lack of pull for retaining more senior personnel.

Li pointed out that private childcare centers, numbering over 200 compared to 93 public centers in Taipei, shoulder a significant portion of the city's childcare responsibilities. He argued that the government should not apply standard corporate "performance metrics" to these institutions, as it is overly harsh for facilities that provide educational and social welfare services. The current subsidy incentives, he stated, are insufficient, particularly as they do not increase beyond the five-year service mark, failing to retain more senior staff.

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Teachers who stay longer contribute more to the quality of childcare.

In response, Social Affairs Bureau Director Yao Shu-wen acknowledged that salaries in private childcare centers are linked to the operators' management practices. She mentioned that the city provides retention bonuses and uses central government subsidies for "administrative expenses" to encourage operators to increase staff salaries. Yao also committed to analyzing the tenure and age demographics of childcare workers to determine which subsidy levels would be most effective in retaining them. She agreed to review the proposal for an additional subsidy bracket for those with 10 or more years of service, recognizing that experienced staff contribute positively to the quality of care.

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We agree to review the addition of a reward bracket for excellent childcare personnel with over 10 years of service.