The city of Taipei is dotted with parks and green spaces where parents can take their children to play when the weather is right, but even in this thriving metropolis there are about half as many kids playing on the jungle gyms as one might expect. People all around the country, not just up north in the capital, are choosing to have fewer children. Young adults are opting for education over offspring and placing professional prestige on a pedestal. The benefits of raising a family—emotional bonding as well as caregivers and monetary support in old age, among many others—are seen by some as secondary goals.
In order for a country to maintain the size of its population, women must give birth to an average of 2.1 children during their lifetimes, experts say. However, like many other industrialized nations, Taiwan has a substantially lower fertility rate. It was so low in 2014—1.11 children per woman according to the CIA World Fact Book—that the nation placed 222nd out of 224 countries and administrative regions, ahead of only Macau and Singapore.
In an effort to reverse this trend and at least increase the birthrate in Taipei, where the fertility rate rested at 1.07 children per woman as of last year, city government officials began researching why citizens seemed reluctant to start families. Surveys were given to non-parents to find out what, if anything, would encourage them to have kids. Those who already had children were asked what would make them consider having more. Dou Tsz-rung (杜慈容), director of the Division of Welfare Services for Women and Child Care Centers under the Taipei City Government’s Department of Social Welfare, says respondents were most interested in monetary support, such as a monthly stipend for every child, daycare facilities and other services for children, and a selection of safe and clean spaces in which their kids could play.
A 2-year-old boy tries to scale the climbing wall at the Wanhua Parent-Child Center in Taipei. (Photo by Lynn F. Lee)
At the time of the survey, Taipei already had an abundance of parks and other outdoor recreational areas such as the Taipei Children’s Amusement Park. However, there was a distinct lack of comfortable indoor spaces, especially for toddlers, who require cleaner and more sterile environments to crawl around in than local parks. Kids also need places to play during hot or rainy weather. Therefore, on Sept. 27, 2011, the Taipei City Government opened the city’s first Parent-Child Center in Zhongzheng District as a pilot project to gauge public interest. As long lines of parents and kids formed outside the center’s doors, municipal authorities realized they had a runaway hit on their hands. Officials moved to establish additional facilities as fast as possible, with the goal of opening at least one Parent-Child Center in every district of the city. A second location opened in Songshan District on Aug. 8, 2012, with a third in Zhongshan District at the Taipei Expo Park quickly following. By August 2014, the city had realized its goal and opened its 12th center in Xinyi.
The centers’ slogan is “interaction, play and development.” The first element, interaction, is given priority and involves three different avenues of approach. The most important aspect of interaction at the centers is getting adults more involved in their children’s development. “In the past, parents might occasionally use the television set as a babysitter, but in today’s Internet age the situation has only worsened, with many parents—especially fathers—simply giving their kids a smartphone or iPad to play with instead of being actively involved with their children,” Dou says. “The Parent-Child Centers seek to remedy that by providing an environment in which parents can play and learn with their children.”
The second avenue of interaction is for children to have contact with each other. They are taught how to wait in line for other young boys and girls to finish playing with a particular item and how to share toys. Sometimes they simply play games.
The third and final method of promoting interaction has to do with communication between adults. First-time parents benefit tremendously from being able to talk to other parents or Parent-Child Center staff to gain insights on ways to raise their children or encourage them to play and share with others. “By providing a safe and comfortable environment for parents to meet with each other, it’s easier for them to become friends on Facebook, Line or WhatsApp and share parenting tips,” says Dou. “By offering a fantastic environment for parents to gather and interact with each other, it’s hoped that everyone can gain parenting advice and encouragement from one another.”
Although the Taipei City Government provides general guidelines for the facilities, the Parent-Child Centers are privately run by various nongovernmental organizations. “The private sector has a lot of knowledgeable and talented individuals with more experience than the government in designing and managing such centers for children,” says Dou. “So it supplies the talent, managerial know-how and staffing, while the city government provides general guidance, the land where the centers are located and funding for the overhead expenses.”
Operating such a large public service is not cheap, especially since the centers do not charge an admission fee. According to figures from 2014, operational costs for Taipei’s Parent-Child Centers amounted to approximately NT$100 million (US$3.2 million). Such a hefty price tag has not required raising taxes on city residents or sacrificing services in other areas, however. Instead, the facilities are paid for by Taipei City using funds obtained from the state-sanctioned Taiwan Lottery.
Although providing a safe environment in which children can play is a core goal of the centers, the facilities are not just about the toys and games. Thanks to the centers, trained staff are able to see how Taipei parents are raising their kids and implement preventative measures to resolve potential issues. For instance, if a staff member observes a parent loudly scolding their child or spanking them, they can provide alternative means of discipline to prevent the situation from worsening into potential child abuse at home. Children can also be monitored for signs of illness, malnutrition or inadequate clothing. In some circumstances, first-time parents are simply inexperienced and need a little extra guidance. Sometimes, however, families are too poor to provide their children with proper health care and clothing, in which case the staff can point them toward government resources or welfare programs for additional assistance.
A member of the city’s fire department helps a young child try on an actual firefighter’s uniform. Special educational events are often held at the Parent-Child Centers, such as brief demonstrations on fire safety. (Photo by Lynn F. Lee)
Although the centers have experienced many successes, some people are not 100 percent satisfied with the results. One such critic is Jeffrey Tsai, who oversees the operations of an indoor family entertainment facility that he helped establish called Leo’s Playland. “When the centers started opening, Leo’s Playland had already been in operation for over three years, but had been inspected only once by the city government, and very unprofessionally at that,” he says. “How can a government that doesn’t adequately enforce play area safety standards create play centers that are safe? Also, by establishing these centers, the government was hurting local businesses [like Leo’s Playland] instead of supporting them.”
Another criticism has to do with the online registration system and the long queues at some of the centers. Karen Chang (張欣頤), who occasionally takes her 3-year-old daughter to use the facilities, comments, “I don’t like that without a reservation, I don’t know if we’ll be able to get in. At the same time, I know that if I go to a paid place at least I can get in for sure.”
Despite such criticisms, the Parent-Child Centers seem to be a factor in the increase to Taipei’s birthrate. Discounting the rise in births that usually occurs every 12 years during the Year of the Dragon, which last took place in 2012, statistics show that the number of children born in the capital city has reversed its decline and steadily increased from a low of 25,132 babies in 2010 to 26,710 in 2013 and 29,024 in 2014.
Even if the fertility rate goes above the required 2.1 children per woman, the Taipei City Government intends to maintain this free service. The fact that the centers are already seeing around 1 million visitors per year is proof enough that the general public welcomes the program. After the city achieved its goal of opening one facility in each district, two additional locations followed, including the latest in Zhongzheng District, which specializes in accepting donated toys from families that no longer need them. The toys are then lent to underprivileged families that cannot afford to buy new ones or to parents who would simply like to try out a particular item before purchasing it.
Thanks to the centers’ success in Taipei, the Kaohsiung and Taichung city governments are considering opening similar facilities of their own. Even Tsai is hopeful. “We see improvements on the horizon. Taipei’s Department of Social Welfare has now started enforcing mandatory safety classes for play center operators and regular safety checks via approved third-party safety inspectors,” he says. “These are steps in the right direction and I’m hopeful that they’ll result in safer play areas for all of us in Taipei. The Parent-Child Centers offer new experiences and play environments for our children, and that’s never a bad thing.”
Dou reveals that her favorite center is the one in Wanhua District, not just because it is the largest, boasting both indoor and outdoor play areas, but because of its location in one of Taipei’s poorest districts. “This area is surrounded by poverty and there are lots of families in this neighborhood that cannot provide air-conditioning all day in the hottest summer months for their children, or that cannot afford to pay for expensive toys,” Dou says. “But with the Parent-Child Center’s convenient location in the middle of a park, they have an opportunity to take their children to a nice air-conditioned environment with hundreds of toys to play with for several hours a day, and it’s all completely free of charge. It’s in areas like this that we see our efforts are making a difference in people’s lives, especially the lives of future generations.”
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Lynn F. Lee is an American-born Taiwanese who has been living in Taipei since 1993. In addition to writing, he enjoys dragon boat racing, cycling, photography and yoga.
Copyright © 2015 by Lynn F. Lee