Last year, the satisfaction level of daycare center users increased significantly compared to 2020. Among the types, workplace daycare centers received the highest satisfaction. Along with this, the issues identified for improvement were facility environment enhancement and quality improvement of childcare services.
On the 28th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced the results of the "2022 Daycare Center User Satisfaction Survey." This survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 1,000 households with young children attending daycare centers.
The main reason for attending daycare centers was "for education to support child development," accounting for 41.0%. This was followed by "difficulty in direct care due to work or employment" (39.4%) and "to reduce parenting burden" (14.6%). When choosing a daycare center, the most important considerations were accessibility from home (43.9%) and quality of childcare (31.5%). The average monthly childcare expenditure for households using daycare centers was 997,000 KRW, which was 18.3% of the average household income.
Satisfaction with Use by Type of Daycare Center. [Data provided by the Ministry of Health and Welfare]
In the satisfaction survey, the average score was 4.08 out of 5, showing an increase compared to 3.72 in 2020. By facility type, workplace daycare centers had the highest satisfaction with an average score of 4.35, followed by corporate/organization daycare centers (4.28), home daycare centers (4.17), social welfare corporation daycare centers (4.14), national/public daycare centers (4.11), and private daycare centers (3.98).
The areas identified for improvement at the daycare centers currently attended by children were facilities and equipment, indoor and outdoor environment at 19.3%, teaching materials and equipment at 15.2%, and surrounding environment at 13.1%. The most desired childcare support policy was "improvement of childcare service quality," with 22.1% of responses. This was followed by "improvement of employment-related systems such as establishment of parental leave" (20.7%), "expansion of cash support related to childcare and parenting" (17.8%), "expansion of facilities such as national/public daycare centers" (17.3%), and "expansion of various childcare types such as extended care" (15.8%).
Baek Geum-ju, Director of Childcare Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, "Through this daycare center user satisfaction survey, we plan to reflect the needs and opinions of families raising young children to create various childcare support environments such as expanding hourly childcare, and to promote policies for high-quality childcare services."
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