Commodification, subordination, and social disconnection: public responses to China's home-based child care policy on Douyin

This study examines how the Chinese public interprets and evaluates the Home-Based Child Care (HBCC) policy introduced through the Home-Based Child Care Management Measures (Trial), drawing on debates from Douyin, a Chinese short-video platform. Using Python and Scrapy, we collected comments from five high-engagement Douyin videos. A mixed analytic workflow combined descriptive coding with Fairclough's three-dimensional critical discourse analysis. Findings show three recurring patterns. First, HBCC was frequently re-named through familiar labels, which reduced perceived professional status and reinforced gendered assumptions about care work. Second, comments constructed strained relationship networks, positioning HBCC as an intrusion into household and neighborhood life, revealing low baseline trust and limited tolerance for uncertainty. Third, risk and burden were framed through strong modality and cost–risk calculations, linking minor incidents to conflict and liability and translating care into a market-like transaction. These patterns suggest that, in addition to regulatory design, implementation depends on how responsibility boundaries, complaint/mediation pathways, and professional identity are communicated and made verifiable. For European systems where home-based provision is established or expanding, the study cautions that 'formalisation' alone does not secure public confidence. Trust-building infrastructures, clearer liability arrangements, and de-gendered professional narratives are central to sustaining supply and social acceptance.