Jinju City Expands Operation of Nation's First '365 Days 24-Hour Hourly Childcare Room'

Additional Installation Inside Jinju Central Welga Daycare in Gaho-dong, Sinjinju Station Area from June 1

Operating a 24/7 Hourly Childcare Room All Year Round
[Image Source=Jinju City]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] Jinju City, Gyeongnam Province announced on the 26th that starting June 1, it will expand the number of ‘365-day 24-hour hourly childcare rooms’ operated directly by the city to four locations, the first of its kind nationwide, to alleviate the difficulties of parents who need childcare services due to urgent circumstances such as dual-income households and nighttime economic activities.

The city will add one more 365-day 24-hour hourly childcare room at Jinju Central Wellga Daycare Center in Gaho-dong, in addition to the three existing locations. The 365-day 24-hour hourly childcare project has been promoted since April 2019 by expanding daytime hourly childcare, with an average of 14 children using the service on weekends.

The service is available to children aged 6 months to 5 years old whose parents are registered residents or employed in the city, and can be used even if the child attends daycare or kindergarten. On weekdays, it operates from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m. the next day, and on weekends and holidays from 9 a.m. to midnight, with a usage fee of 1,000 KRW per hour.

The city received the Excellence Award at the ‘2019 Gyeongsangnam-do Innovation and Active Administration Best Practices Competition’ and the Presidential Award at the ‘2019 Government Innovation Best Practices Competition’ hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety for this project. In July last year, it was selected for the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s ‘Resident Life Innovation Case Expansion Support Project’ and received the Innovation Champion plaque.

A resident living in Gaho-dong welcomed the service, saying, “When I work overtime, I was anxious because there was nowhere to leave my child after daycare, but now that there is a childcare room nearby, I feel relieved and can work with peace of mind.”

The city expects to expand 24-hour childcare services throughout Jinju by operating the 365-day 24-hour childcare room in Gaho-dong, the southern area’s central district adjacent to the new Jinju station area and Jinju Innovation City, thereby enhancing user convenience.

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