In cramped boarding houses, lacking playgrounds and no relatives to support, the problem of caring for children in the summer has become even more difficult. With the popular image of children waiting in the rented room all day, or being given phones and computers as a "reluctant caregiver".
For many parents who are workers, this is an extremely unlikely choice in the situation of not having a summer nursery, not being able to quit their jobs and not having enough money for their children to participate in private summer camps, which are expensive.
The risk of children having accidents, being affected psychologically, accessing toxic information... is very real. Meanwhile, most public kindergartens do not organize summer classes, while community service models in residential areas and worker dormitories are rare or operate at a low level.
Given that reality, the "Juvenile Garden" model implemented by the Hau Giang Pharmaceutical Company Trade Union is a remarkable bright spot. Not only an internal nursery, it is also a vivid manifestation of the "on-site social security" policy, when businesses, trade unions and workers join hands to solve the needs of workers' families in the suburbs.
It is worth mentioning that there are not many models like "Childhood Garden" nationwide. Therefore, this model, or similar approach, needs to be replicated, but it should not only rely on the goodwill of the business, but need guidance and support from the policy side.
Local authorities, trade unions and enterprises need to "work together" with specific solutions: Support funding for opening internal kindergartens in industrial parks, organize free or low-cost summer classes for workers' children, build safe playgrounds in workers' housing areas, or organize mobile summer activities in coordination with unions.
The measure of a social security policy is not only the minimum wage, gifts or direct support packages, but also the fact that workers can work with peace of mind without having to worry because their children have no one to look after them, no place to play, no place to study.
Effective policies must be implemented in specific lives, in each summer, every kitchen corner, every small rented room... Workers' children have the right to play, study, and develop in a safe and healthy environment. It is not only about caring for the moment, but also an investment in the future.
