Home Alone? No Worries... Daegu City Provides Childcare for the New Semester

Dual-Income and Childcare Gap Family Care Services Implemented

Government Support Expanded to 960 Hours Annually Starting This Year

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Koo Dae-seon] “Don’t worry about ‘kids home alone’ in the new semester!”

Daegu City will provide customized childcare services from March to reduce the parenting burden on dual-income families and others.

The childcare service is a program where a caregiver visits the home to provide care services for children under 12 years old in families experiencing a childcare gap.

It targets dual-income families with children entering elementary school or families who need to return to work after maternity leave or parental leave ends.

This service is divided into a full-day infant care service for infants under 36 months during the day and a part-time service that cares for children under 12 years old during gap times.

Parents who wish to use the service can apply at the family center in their district or county of residence. If the household income is below 150% of the median income, government support is also available. After eligibility is confirmed at the local eup/myeon/dong administrative welfare center, the service can be applied for.

The service fee is 11,080 KRW per hour, and if designated as a government-supported recipient, the fee ranges from a minimum of 1,662 KRW to a maximum of 9,418 KRW per hour depending on income level.

Households with a monthly income of 6,653,000 KRW for a family of three or 8,102,000 KRW for a family of four or less are eligible for government support.

For government-supported recipients, the full-day infant care service is supported up to 200 hours per month, and the part-time service is supported up to 960 hours per year.

Until now, applications had to be made at least 4 hours in advance to use the service, but from the second half of this year, emergency and short-term care services will be introduced, allowing childcare services to be used in 1-hour increments when sudden overtime or business trips require someone to look after the child.

The family center, which provides the service, conducts professional training for caregivers every year and monitors the entire process including service linkage and accident prevention to ensure a comfortable service experience.

Jo Kyung-sun, Director of the Youth and Women’s Education Bureau of Daegu City, said, “We support childcare services to reduce the parenting burden on dual-income families raising children in elementary school or younger, so we hope they use the service conveniently.”