The Labor Committee of the Cámara de Diputados (Chile's lower house) voted on Tuesday on whether to take up the universal sala cuna (nursery care for children under 2) bill and approved it with 13 votes in favor, according to Diario Financiero. The bill thus clears the first step of its second constitutional stage.
The unanimous backing came after weeks of negotiations between the government and the parliamentary caucuses. However, disagreements over the content remain open. The most sensitive issue is how the benefit will be funded.
At the same session, Labor Minister Tomás Rau announced that the Executive will submit amendments at the end of this week. According to the minister, the goal is to resolve the main points of contention and pave the way for an agreement.
Rau defended the urgency of the reform. "We are living through very complex times in terms of employment, and in particular female and youth unemployment," the minister said. He also noted that childcare continues to hold back many women who are looking for work.
The government is targeting three sticking points: the fund's financing, the co-payment by families and the strengthening of public early childhood education. For the first, the Executive asked the Superintendencia de Pensiones (Chile's pension regulator) for a new actuarial report.
That study will assess different ways of splitting the contribution and offsetting it with the Seguro de Cesantía (unemployment insurance). The analysis covers both individual accounts and the Fondo de Cesantía Solidario (solidarity unemployment fund).
On the co-payment, Rau previewed a formula under which vulnerable families, identified through the Registro Social de Hogares (the national social household registry), would not pay the full difference between the fund's contribution and the actual cost of the sala cuna.
The package would also include support for kindergartens funded through transferencia de fondos (VTF), a model in which the State transfers resources to municipalities and nonprofit entities. The government is also considering bringing forward the inclusion of domestic workers.
Several lawmakers made clear that their vote is not a blank check. The most frequent criticism targeted the use of the Seguro de Cesantía to fund the system. The opposition also raised objections over the resources allocated to the public network.
The committee extended the deadline for receiving amendments until Friday, October 30. Rau set the goal of having the bill leave the Congreso (Chile's National Congress) before February.