Ulsan 5-Year-Old Children to Receive Fully Free Childcare Starting September
Ulsan City Supports 'Parental Expense' for Daycare Centers
Up to 140,000 KRW per Person per Month, Until Age 3 in 2025
Starting this September, ‘complete free childcare’ is expected to be implemented for 5-year-old children in the Ulsan area. In addition to free childcare fees, the local government will cover the additional expenses that parents have been responsible for until now.
On the 3rd, Ulsan City announced that from September, it will first support the ‘parental burden expenses’ for about 2,500 5-year-old children attending daycare centers to realize free childcare for young children.
The ‘parental burden expenses’ at daycare centers refer to the additional costs that parents bear for special activities, field trips, etc., beyond the childcare fees supported by the government and Ulsan City. It is estimated that the average annual cost per child is about 1.68 million KRW.
Ulsan City will provide support of up to 140,000 KRW per month (1.68 million KRW annually) per child regardless of the type of daycare center (public, private, or home-based) or the parents’ assets and income.
The support for parental burden expenses at daycare centers was agreed upon in consultation with the Office of Education in 2022 and will be expanded step-by-step to ▲5-year-olds in 2023 ▲4- to 5-year-olds in 2024 ▲3- to 5-year-olds in 2025.
The project budget is 1.4 billion KRW in 2023, 8.4 billion KRW in 2024, and 14.1 billion KRW in 2025, with Ulsan City and the five districts/counties sharing the costs through consultation.
Until now, while childcare fees were supported by the government and local governments, there was no support for additional expenses beyond the childcare fees, so parents had to bear the full cost.
Hot Picks Today
As Samsung Falters, Chinese DRAM Surges: CXMT Returns to Profit in Just One Year
- "Most Americans Didn't Want This"... Americans Lose 60 Trillion Won to Soaring Fuel Costs
- Man in His 30s Dies After Assaulting Father and Falling from Yongin Apartment
- Samsung Union Member Sparks Controversy With Telegram Post: "Let's Push KOSPI Down to 5,000"
- "Why Make Things Like This?" Foreign Media Highlights Bizarre Phenomenon Spreading in Korea
Kim Doo-gyeom, Mayor of Ulsan City, said, “This will help alleviate the economic burden on parents with young children attending daycare centers,” adding, “We will continue to strengthen the public childcare foundation and create a happy and reliable childcare environment so that Ulsan can become a city where raising children is easy.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
