20% of Parents' Income Spent on Children... Monthly Infant and Toddler Care Cost 976,000 Won

2021 Ministry of Health and Welfare Childcare Status Survey Results

On the 14th, citizens are browsing booths at the KOBE Baby Fair held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] Last year, households raising infants and toddlers aged 0 to 5 spent about 20% of their income on childcare expenses.

According to the ‘2021 Childcare Status Survey’ conducted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare through the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education on the 28th, the average monthly childcare cost for households raising children aged 0 to 5 last year was 976,000 KRW. This amount includes the costs directly paid by households for childcare, private education, clothing, food, and insurance.

Compared to the 2018 survey, the childcare expenses per household increased by 107,000 KRW. When classified by the number of children in the household, families with one child spent 863,000 KRW, those with two children spent 1,304,000 KRW, and those with three children spent 1,855,000 KRW on childcare.

The costs borne by guardians for using daycare centers and kindergartens actually decreased compared to 2018. Last year, the average monthly daycare center fee was 56,000 KRW, down 5,000 KRW from 61,000 KRW in 2018. Kindergarten fees also dropped by 50,000 KRW during the same period, from 239,000 KRW to 189,000 KRW.

In particular, 29.6% of households responded that they had ‘no cost’ for using daycare centers, the highest proportion among all responses. This is 12.2 percentage points higher than the 17.4% who gave the same response in 2018. Households spending between 50,000 and 100,000 KRW accounted for 24.3%. Under the current government’s free childcare policy, guardians only pay for some costs such as special activity fees and field trip fees, while parental childcare fees are fully covered.

Regarding the current costs paid for daycare centers, 82.4% of parents raising infants and toddlers answered that the fees were ‘appropriate.’ Additionally, 56% responded that they were willing to pay extra fees to improve daycare center services. The willingness to bear additional costs has been increasing annually, with 23.5% in 2012, 29.6% in 2015, and 40.5% in 2018.

The average monthly labor income of daycare center childcare teachers was 2,764,000 KRW, showing a 27.4% (590,000 KRW) increase compared to 2,170,000 KRW in the 2018 survey conducted three years ago. By income components, the basic salary and allowances (such as homeroom and special needs childcare allowances) paid by daycare centers increased by 434,000 KRW, regular allowances paid by the government such as treatment improvement and work environment improvement allowances increased by 87,000 KRW, and regular allowances paid by local governments such as position, chief, and overtime allowances increased by 73,000 KRW each.

The average salary of childcare teachers at national/public and private/home daycare centers was 3,010,000 KRW and 2,530,000 KRW respectively, showing a difference of about 520,000 KRW. Compared to the 2018 survey, where national/public daycare teachers earned 2,670,000 KRW and private/home daycare teachers earned 2,060,000 KRW, a difference of about 610,000 KRW, the gap has somewhat narrowed.