The Teacher Packed Up Again... Childcare Teachers Facing 'Low Birthrate Layoffs' [Population Extinction Impacting Society]

Disappearing Daycare Centers ①
Decline Over 6 Years, 6,645 Teachers Reduced
Teacher Returning After 2 Months Laid Off Due to Lack of Children
Effectively 'Layoffs' Without Any Special Measures

"Now, 0-year-old infants are not being enrolled. It seems it will continue to be difficult until the first half of the year."

At a daycare center in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, a childcare teacher was recently dismissed. This was because they could not form an infant class due to the failure to recruit new infants. The dismissed teacher had only returned from parental leave about two months ago. A relatively new teacher was the one who was let go.

The director of the daycare center also explained the situation. Director A said, "Some of the newly enrolled infants quit because the distance was too far, leaving about three spots vacant," adding, "If it had been just one or two, we would have managed, but since no new infants were recruited at all, we had no choice but to reduce the number of teachers," expressing the difficulty.

Childcare Teachers Disappearing by 1,000 Every Year

On January 26th, childcare teachers and children were having a class at the workplace daycare center of Namiseom Co., Ltd. located in Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province.
Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

Due to the low birthrate, the number of infants at daycare centers in Seoul has sharply declined, impacting both daycare centers and childcare teachers. According to statistics from the Seoul Metropolitan Government as of December last year, the total number of daycare centers in Seoul decreased by 391, from 4,712 in 2022 to 4,321 last year. This appears to be due to the decrease in the number of infants from 167,472 to 155,251.

Looking at Seoul's childcare statistics, the number of daycare centers has steadily decreased over six years since 2017. The number of daycare centers dropped from 6,226 in 2017 to 4,321 last year, meaning 1,905 daycare centers closed over six years. During the same period, the number of infants decreased by about 80,000. This means the number of infants has been decreasing by about 10,000 each year.

As the number of infants decreased, the number of childcare teachers also declined. Last year, the number of childcare teachers in Seoul daycare centers was 49,783, down by 1,163 from 50,946 in 2022. Over the past six years, a total of 6,645 childcare teachers have been lost. This means that 1,000 to 2,000 people lose their jobs every year.

According to the '2021 National Childcare Survey' published by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the average tenure of a childcare teacher at a single daycare center is 5 years and 9 months. Specifically, for public, private, and home daycare centers, it is around 4 years. On average, each teacher moves between 1 to 2 daycare centers.

In fact, childcare teachers say that with the recent decrease in the number of daycare centers, it has become common to look for other jobs. Teacher B from a daycare center said, "In the past two years, many have lost their jobs due to daycare center closures and have either received unemployment benefits or moved to other institutions," adding, "Daycare centers inside large apartment complexes are doing relatively better, but those near residential houses and kindergartens are closing down a lot." The decrease in the number of infants reduces the operating funds of daycare centers, which affects the allowances that can be given to teachers or leads to a reduction in the number of teachers themselves.

Difficult to Prevent Dismissals Due to Low Birthrate

According to Article 23, Paragraph 1 of the Labor Standards Act, if an employer dismisses a worker for business reasons, they can proceed with a recommended dismissal by obtaining the worker's consent and giving 30 days' prior notice. However, if childcare teachers believe the dismissal is unfair, they can apply for relief to the Labor Relations Commission within three months.

However, Park Dae-jin, Policy Director of the Public Transport Union (certified labor attorney), explained, "There are hardly any cases where childcare teachers actually receive relief, and in reality, many cases are layoffs or restructuring," adding, "There are no separate systems or laws specifically for the treatment of childcare teachers."

Local governments can only provide indirect support such as counseling for teachers. A Seoul city official said, "When daycare centers have to reduce the number of classes and inevitably dismiss teachers, they proceed with dismissal after prior notice or through interviews and consultations with the teachers, with cooperation from the Korea Childcare Association and labor attorneys," adding, "The Childcare Comprehensive Support Center provides psychological counseling for childcare staff as well as labor and legal consultations."

Seoul city, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and other related agencies hold the position that they cannot fundamentally solve the problem of unstable treatment of childcare teachers caused by the low birthrate. A Ministry of Health and Welfare official stated, "Since the number of infants continues to decrease due to the low birthrate, it is difficult to come up with additional solutions beyond the current support such as daycare center incentives and childcare fee increases."