Long-term childcare measures to help working moms

By Lee Kyung-min

More working moms will be able to concentrate on their work without the anxiety about hiring and keeping a nanny following a government measure to increase the number of state-run workplace childcare centers. Stay-at-home moms will be able to send their children to daycare centers that are not only affordable but also just as competent as private kindergartens.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare unveiled a long-term measure to strengthen its role in providing childcare services amid growing demand from women, many of whom are much more likely to quit work than men. They are forced to comply with the social perception that childrearing responsibilities fall almost exclusively on women.

A special committee — led by the vice health minister and comprised of ministry officials, daycare center representatives, a childrearing policy institute, daycare instructors and parents — deliberated on issues concerning the government’s realistic role in a country marked by a rapidly graying population and low birthrate. The committee agreed childrearing is no longer the responsibility of individual mothers, but of the government.

Under the plan, apartments with over 500 households are required to set up state-run daycare centers, with priority enrollment given to children from low-income families. Many parents say enrolling children at state-run centers is equivalent to winning the lottery due to fierce competition, because these facilities are much cheaper than private ones. Those who operate an enterprise with over 500 employees or employ over 300 women will be required to set up the centers, an increase from the current regulation that requires those with only 300 employees or more to set up a childcare facility. Out of 1,153 such enterprises, 81.5 percent are following the guidelines as of 2016.

The committee said it may increase the hours of free daycare service to up to 12 hours, to better help double-income households. Under the current system, stay-at-home moms with infants aged up to 3 can use state-run daycare centers up to six hours a day for free. An addition of a 15-hour voucher, valid for one month, is given for them to use in emergencies. After the voucher and free hours run out, they have to pay 4,000 won per hour. For double-income households, they can use up to 12 hours per day for free.

Offering training on childrearing and parenting to stay-at-home moms in return for using fewer hours of the center’s service, as an incentive to better meet the needs of all parents, the committee has considered. “Stay-at-home moms might feel it is their loss if they do not use the free service,” a ministry official said. “We are considering offering them a different service to draw them to reduce the hours of using the centers, which would help them feel they were duly compensated.”

The government will come up with a revision to the payment system. Owners of daycare centers remain reluctant to take care of babies of stay-at-home moms because the government pays them for only up to six hours of services. “A revised payment plan will not only consider how many hours babies stay at the centers but also seek measures to minimize protests from center owners,” the ministry official added.

The government will also toughen standards of qualifications for daycare center instructors, similar to that for kindergarten instructors. It will hire more assistants for daycare center instructors to help them focus on infants who need close, constant and undivided attention. A pay raise may be considered for instructors for whom working extra time was something that they had to endure. A monitoring group will be set up to collect opinions from instructors and parents.

While the measure is a step in the right direction, some women remain skeptical about its efficacy. “I agree with the idea that the government should bear more of a burden in raising children, but I wish it had more detailed measures for working moms at small- to medium-sized companies. I will be looking forward to such policies,” said a woman who works for a small restaurant that has about 20 workers.