IAS expands emergency childcare services for families in need

The Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) has confirmed that 22 childcare centers in Macau currently provide emergency and temporary care services for families in need.

The service, available for full or half days, offers short-term childcare support. Parents can find relevant information through the Macau Childcare Services Information Portal.

The bureau is preparing the “2026-2030 Childcare Services Development Plan” and has collected feedback from subsidized centers to implement the program later this year.

Officials said they are also examining the demand for childcare services for children under two.

In a reply to lawmaker Ngan Iek Hang’s interpellation, IAS director Wilson Hon said the city now has nearly 7,700 childcare spaces, covering about 69% of children under three.

Available spaces for children aged two to three already meet the population’s needs.
The bureau currently has no plans to extend emergency care to children above the regulatory age of four, citing safety and developmental considerations.

To promote home safety, the bureau works with childcare centers and social service facilities to provide guidance to parents, including booklets and visual materials on preventing household accidents. Educational videos for infant caregivers are also available online.

The Education and Youth Development Bureau incorporates home safety, emergency response, and self-rescue skills into formal school curricula, according to IAS.

Since 2018, supplementary “Safety Education” materials have been published for various age groups, alongside workshops and resources for parents. Officials argued that these measures aim to combine professional childcare services with education on home safety for children. Times Reporter