Gwangju Nam-gu 'Public and National Childcare Centers' Increase by 20 Locations in 4 Years

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Kim Byeong-nae, mayor of Nam-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, is fulfilling his pledge to expand public daycare centers to strengthen public childcare during the 7th and 8th local government terms, having expanded 20 centers over the past four years.

As the number of children using public daycare centers has increased, the utilization rate of public childcare?including daycare centers run by social welfare corporations supported by the government and local governments?has also surpassed the 40% mark, according to analysis.

According to the status report on public daycare centers released by Nam-gu on the 6th, there were 23 public daycare centers in the district as of the end of September this year.

Before Mayor Kim Byeong-nae took office in June 2018, there were only three public daycare centers, but this number has significantly increased through the 7th term and into the 8th term of local government.

Looking at the annual expansion status of public daycare centers, one center opened in the second half of 2018, nine in 2020, three in 2021, and seven in 2022.

The significant increase in public daycare centers during the 7th and 8th terms is due to proactive measures to create a childcare environment where children can be born and raised stably, in line with the government's policy to expand public childcare. This includes establishing daycare centers in apartment complexes and encouraging the conversion of private and home daycare centers to public ones for coexistence.

In particular, the results of these efforts are clearly reflected in the number of newly established and converted public daycare centers over the past four years.

Out of a total of 20 centers, eight new public daycare centers opened during the 7th term, and seven private and home daycare centers were converted to public ones.

Additionally, with the start of the 8th term, three new public daycare centers and two converted centers opened.

The expansion of public daycare centers has directly led to an increase in the utilization rate of public childcare daycare centers.

The public childcare utilization rate is an indicator combining the usage rates of public daycare centers, social welfare corporation daycare centers, and workplace daycare centers, which rose sharply from 29.5% as of the end of June 2018 to 42.0% as of the end of September this year.

Among these, the proportion of public daycare center usage increased significantly each year, from 4.19% at the end of June 2018 to 5.11% in 2019, 10.21% in 2020, 13.55% in 2021, and 18.99% in 2022.

Mayor Kim Byeong-nae stated, “We have actively promoted projects such as facility improvement costs, childcare fees, home care allowances, and support for improving the treatment of staff to enhance infant and toddler childcare services and create a pleasant childcare environment. We will continue to do our best to establish a public childcare foundation that parents can trust and rely on.”