Gyeonggi, Seoul, Incheon Form Metropolitan Area Childcare Council... Joint Response to Low Birthrate and COVID-19

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has formed the 'Metropolitan Area Childcare Council' with Seoul and Incheon to jointly respond to the changing childcare environment due to low birth rates and COVID-19.

On the 15th, Gyeonggi Province held the first meeting of the 'Metropolitan Area Childcare Council' with officials from Seoul and Incheon at the Gyeonggi Women's Family Foundation in Suwon, and announced on the 16th that they shared excellent childcare policies and discussed government improvement tasks.

The Metropolitan Area Childcare Council was established to jointly improve related issues as the three neighboring cities and provinces are linked as one living area, making physical childcare boundaries ambiguous.

For example, parents in Hanam City, Gyeonggi Province use childcare centers in Seoul due to commuting to Seoul, or residents of Songpa-gu, Seoul use nearby Gyeonggi Province childcare services.

At the meeting, the three cities and provinces discussed ▲ efforts to eliminate childcare policy blind spots for households living in metropolitan boundary areas ▲ sharing excellent metropolitan childcare policies and specialized childcare programs ▲ discovering common childcare requests in the metropolitan area and joint proposals.

In particular, Gyeonggi Province shared plans to expand 'Childcare Center Operation Support' and improve projects to alleviate operational difficulties of small-scale private and home childcare centers, institutionalize budget allocation standards for childcare center directors' position allowances, conduct a survey on the labor environment of childcare staff according to the 'Gyeonggi Province Childcare Staff Rights Protection and Promotion Ordinance' enacted last year, and promote the establishment of a dedicated organization for handling childcare staff grievances, aiming to improve the quality of childcare services and enhance staff rights.

The Childcare Council plans to hold regular meetings in the future and establish a practical cooperation system to actively share the council's achievements.

Ji Ju-yeon, Director of the Women's Family Bureau of Gyeonggi Province, said, "We have created a channel to discuss and share childcare policy issues in the metropolitan area and jointly respond to overcoming operational difficulties of childcare centers," adding, "Through regular council meetings, we hope the three institutions will share excellent policies and develop childcare service models suited to local conditions together."

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