Ministry of Gender Equality and Family to Build More Joint Childcare Centers and Expand Childcare Service Support

Announcement of Measures to Strengthen Care Support Services

Minister of Gender Equality and Family Lee Jung-ok is attending the Government Policy Coordination Meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 30th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] Community childcare sharing centers where residents gather to share caregiving are being expanded, and support for child care services is also being increased.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced on the 15th measures to strengthen caregiving support services that include these contents.

This follows the tasks raised at the discussion forum "Changes in Families Due to COVID-19 and Policy Tasks," jointly hosted by the Ministry and the Korean Women's Development Institute on July 10.

The "Community Childcare Sharing Centers," which support mutual caregiving activities among neighbors, are planned to expand from 268 locations this year to 332 locations next year.

Due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), government support for child care service usage hours and fees will also be expanded. In addition to the current 720 hours limit, additional child care service usage hours will be supported for remote classes, etc. Furthermore, the support rate for full-day type A and hourly type B will increase by 5 percentage points.

Family centers are currently constructing 62 new locations this year, with plans to build 26 more next year.

Family counseling phone services to support family issues such as conflicts, depression, and stress caused by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic are in operation, and the number of professional staff will be expanded to 306.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.