Naju-si to Implement '365-Day Hourly Childcare Service' Starting October

Published 27 Jul.2023 16:47(KST)

Naju City in Jeollanam-do will officially launch the ‘365-Day Nonstop Hourly Childcare Service,’ allowing parents to trustingly leave their children anytime on weekdays and weekends, starting this October.

According to the city on the 27th, the 365-day hourly childcare service is introduced as part of the policy to ‘expand support for infant and toddler facilities and create a safe childcare environment,’ a promise made to citizens during the 8th local government administration.

Naju City held a meeting on the 14th with directors of local daycare centers who wish to be entrusted with management, sharing plans for the overall operation of childcare services.
[Photo by Naju City]

The service targets families with infants and toddlers aged ‘6 months to under 7 years,’ providing 24-hour childcare from 7:30 PM to 7:30 AM the next day when parents need urgent care for their children beyond regular daycare hours.

Unlike similar programs in other local governments in the province that operate only on weekdays, Naju City will care for children on weekends and public holidays as well, from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM.

The city plans to select (entrust) one daycare center in Bitgaram-dong, where the infant and toddler population is the largest, to operate the service in full scale starting in October.

Earlier, in May, the city conducted a survey on childcare policies targeting 832 parents with children under 7 years old.

According to the main survey results, 63.3% (527 respondents) of all participants cited ‘no place to leave children in sudden situations’ as the biggest difficulty in raising children.

The most lacking service in childcare was ‘short-term and temporary childcare services’ at 54.3%, followed by parenting counseling services (12.2%), book and toy rentals (11.5%), and expansion of public and national daycare centers (10.3%).

Regarding the intention to use the 365-day hourly childcare service, 71.2% (580 respondents) expressed a strong willingness to actively use it.

The most important factors for service provision were ‘securing childcare teacher expertise’ (32.7%), ‘creating a safe childcare environment’ (23.1%), ‘strengthening promotion so anyone can use it’ (19%), ‘expanding operating hours’ (13.9%), and ‘simplifying service application’ (9.6%), in that order.

The city is currently establishing detailed operational guidelines for the 365-day hourly childcare project, reflecting the survey results.

Specifics such as monthly usage time limits, self-pay costs, capacity, and advance reservation systems will be finalized and then communicated and promoted to parents through press releases, the city hall website, SNS, and daycare centers.

On the 14th, a meeting was held with directors of daycare centers wishing to be entrusted with the service to share plans for overall service operation and to collaborate on building a trustworthy and safe childcare environment.

Mayor Yoon Byung-tae said, “Through the 365-day year-round emergency childcare service, we will establish a specialized childcare environment unique to Naju where parents can leave their children with peace of mind and focus on their work. We will do our best to reduce the burden of parenting and increase the birth rate by creating a city that is good for having and raising children, one of the core goals of the 8th local government administration.”