hankyoreh

The government has decided to put a stop to the free day care program six months after its implementation. The Ministry of Health and Welfare presented a revision to the program that it said had the approval of the Ministry of Planning and Finance and other related agencies. According to the revision, families in the top 30% income bracket will be excluded from receiving government day care support and families with one working parent (non-working mothers) will have their support reduced by half. Obviously, those that will be eliminated from receiving the funds will have more than a few words to say. The biggest problem is that this universal welfare that was agreed upon by the government will fall into selective or exclusive welfare with no guided principle or philosophy, and there will be confusion on how the policy will be implemented.

The biggest change will be that free childcare which was provided for all families with children two years and younger will be provided in the form of vouchers and childcare allowances. Families with children younger than one year will receive 200 thousand won (US$178), one year 150 thousand won and 2 years old 100 thousand won every month. Also for families with one working parent will be provided with vouchers for half-day classes of six hours. For families where both parents work, a voucher for full day classes of 12 hours will be provided. For families with children between the ages of 3-5, an allowance of 100 thousand won will be provided but only for families at the bottom 70% of the income bracket and as long as they do not use the public facility and are taken care of at home.

It turns out then that by reducing the number of free childcare recipients among the families with children between ages 0-2 and by limiting the money that goes to children between 3-5 to only those taken care of at home, the government’s intention is to reduce the total number of children receiving free day care.

The government is saying that the new system would result in more families taking advantage of day care allowance because it is provided by the government. Moreover, the government insists that the money will go to families that really need it. Looking at the plan closely, however, it is obvious that the government is in fact reducing day care support and not expanding it. For one, the money for free day care for all children ages 0-2 will be divided into the voucher system and day care allowance.

And families in the bottom 70% the income bracket, not all families with young children, will get free day care. This is hardly an expansion, but rather a reduction. Providing day care allowance for low-income families with children ages 3-5 also has a catch since families will have to give up the use of public facilities and tend to their children at home. The government is hoping to cut costs by having fewer children use public childcare facilities.

Free day care for all families was one of President Lee Myung-bak’s campaign pledges. Moreover, during the general election, both the ruling and opposition parties promised to provide day care support to all families with children between ages 0-5 irrespective of income. But suddenly this year free day care for children 0-2 was introduced and the local governments began to feel their budget emptying like a bottomless pit. Despite this, instead of thinking of a device to supplement the budgetary shortage while keeping its original promise, the government is now resorting to adjusting the policy to the budget.

Day care policies are the responsibility of the government and the right of our children. The Minister of Health and Welfare Lim Chae-min once asked, “Should day care support be provided to rich people’s grandchildren?” The real issue is: can the challenge of low birth rates in an aging Korean society be met by the such narrow minded administrators?

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