Even If Infant Class Quota Not Filled, Subsidies Provided for Shortage... Up to 696,000 KRW

Additional Incentives Sufficient to Cover Childcare Teacher Salaries
Up to 629,000 KRW for 0-Year-Old Class, 684,000 KRW for 1-Year-Old Class, 696,000 KRW for 2-Year-Old Class
Promoting Maintenance and Expansion of Infrastructure for Infant Classes in Private and Home Daycare Centers

From January this year, the government will provide an 'Infant Class Incentive' to prevent private and home daycare centers from struggling to pay childcare teachers' salaries due to not filling the 0-2 year-old infant class quotas. Accordingly, private and home daycare centers will be able to receive additional childcare fees for the shortfall in the number of infants if the infant class enrollment is at least 50% of the quota.

Gender Equality Planning Series Nami Island Daycare Center. Photo by Yongjun Cho jun21@

On the 9th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that it will provide an 'Infant Class Incentive' to private and home daycare centers so they can pay childcare teachers' salaries from childcare fee income. This is an incentive to maintain and open infant classes in daycare centers.

Until now, it was difficult to pay childcare teachers' salaries if even one child was missing from the infant class quota. Due to low birth rates, the number of enrolled children has decreased, and the childcare fee income provided per enrolled child was insufficient.

For example, if only 2 children attend a 0-year-old class with a quota of 3, the childcare fee income is 2.34 million KRW, which is less than the minimum wage for a childcare teacher (2.45 million KRW).

To address this, the Ministry of Health and Welfare decided to provide additional institutional childcare fees for the shortfall in the number of children to private and home daycare centers that already receive institutional childcare fees, if the 0-2 year-old class enrollment is at least 50% of the quota. The support amount is up to 629,000 KRW per month for the 0-year-old class, 684,000 KRW for the 1-year-old class, and 696,000 KRW for the 2-year-old class.

The Ministry expects that the 'Infant Class Incentive' will lead to the opening and maintenance of 21,000 infant classes in private and home daycare centers. By supporting the stable establishment of infant classes, parents will be able to send their children to nearby daycare centers whenever they want.

The Infant Class Incentive, like the existing institutional childcare fees, must be applied for by the daycare centers to receive support, and the application and support procedures are the same as those for the existing institutional childcare fees.

Kim Hyun-sook, Director of Childcare Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said, "Through the Infant Class Incentive, we plan to expand infant care infrastructure so that parents raising children can trust and leave their children at nearby daycare centers. We will support daycare centers, which are at the forefront of low birth rate measures, so they can care for children without operational difficulties."

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