This article aims to untangle the puzzle of why the childcare sector often allocates the least of responsibility for care to the state in societies with Confucian social ethos compared with the healthcare and long-term care sector. Using Taiwan as an illustrative case, the article offers an overview of the three care sectors and an in-depth analysis of the development of the childcare sector. We argue that due to the diminished bureaucratic authority after the democratization process and the application of elder culture, the childcare sector is much less well-developed than the other two sectors in Taiwan.