公私協力托嬰中心的成就與限制：兒童照顧政策理念的檢視

Strengths and Weaknesses of a Public-Private-Partnership Baby Care Center Project in Taiwan: A Childcare Policy Perspective

「公私協力托嬰中心」是我國2012年推動針對未滿2歲兒童的新興全國性托育計畫，有別於既有以「時間」和「金錢」為基礎的照顧體系，它是我國首次以提供「服務」為主軸的嬰幼兒照顧政策，而彰顯出它的里程碑意義。鑒於計畫推動迄今逾兩年期間，目前仍缺乏深入的分析與討論，本文試圖從當代兒童照顧政策主要的理念基礎：性別平等、社會投資、和兒童權利，分析我國公私協力托嬰中心在理念和實踐上的成就與限制。經過兒童照顧政策理念的爬梳，以及對我國公私協力托嬰中心的發展現況做介紹後，本文試圖指出，公私協力托嬰中心提供的平價托育服務，雖有助於兒童照顧去商品化以及活化女性的勞動力，但托育服務本身以及與公私協力托嬰中心搭配的保母托育補助，則因相對偏向就業家長，而可能造成女性和兒童照顧階層化的疑慮。除此之外，公私協力的治理結構雖加速了設置的腳步，但同時也構成公私協力托嬰中心在縣市間均衡發展的限制，從而局限了計畫本身與各項政策理念的實踐成果。本文最後討論了公私協力托嬰中心之於我國嬰幼兒照顧體系的利基和不足，做為本文的結論。

The Public-Private-Partnership Baby Care Center Project, implemented in 2012, is the first childcare program for under-2-year-old children in Taiwan to be based on a “service” model rather than a “time” and “money” model. This article presents an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the project from the three main perspectives of childcare policy: gender equality, social investment, and children’s rights. After a literature review and summary of the procedures and development of the Public-Private-Partnership Baby Care Center Project, we point out that although an affordable price implies a decommoditized childcare service and the use of female labor, the project may also create a social stratification of women and children, because the childcare services themselves and the subsidizing of community child-minding services in Taiwan tend to favor well-educated and employed parents. In addition, the governance structure of public-private partnerships may be an obstacle to widespread and balanced development at the national level. In our conclusion section, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the Public-Private- Partnership Baby Care Center Project in the context of Taiwan’s overall childcare system.