5-Year-Old Children 2,534, Up to 138,000 Won Per Month
Ulsan City will support the ‘parental burden’ expenses of daycare centers starting this month.
On the 6th, Ulsan City announced that from September, it will prioritize supporting the ‘parental burden expenses’ for 2,534 five-year-old children enrolled in daycare centers to realize free childcare for young children.
The ‘parental burden expenses’ at daycare centers refer to the out-of-pocket costs that parents additionally bear for special activities, field trips, etc., beyond the childcare fees supported by the government and the city.
To implement the project, Ulsan City has been consulting with the Ministry of Health and Welfare since May and decided to provide up to 138,000 KRW per child per month.
Accordingly, the annual childcare cost burden per child will be reduced by approximately 1.66 million KRW.
The support conditions depend on the type of daycare center (public, private, home-based, etc.) and are provided regardless of the parents’ assets or income. For convenience, parents do not need to apply separately; the daycare centers will directly apply for subsidies to the district or county offices.
The annual support scale will be expanded in phases to align with the free education for private kindergartens by the Office of Education: ▲ five-year-olds in 2023 ▲ four- to five-year-olds in 2024 ▲ three- to five-year-olds in 2025.
The project budget is 1.4 billion KRW in 2023, 8.3 billion KRW in 2024, and 14 billion KRW in 2025, with Ulsan City covering 80% and the district or county offices covering 20%.
An official from Ulsan City said, “Until now, while childcare fees at daycare centers were supported by the government and the city, there was no support for other expenses, so parents bore the full cost,” adding, “This support will help alleviate the economic burden on parents with young children attending daycare centers.”
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