[Public Voices] Legislative Support System: The Legislation Office as a Policy Helper

Support for "Childcare Support Act" Amendment by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family
281 Legislative Drafts Prepared for Ministries Last Year

Iwan-gyu Lee, Chief of the Legislation Office. Photo by the Legislation Office

0.72. This is the provisional total fertility rate per woman in South Korea for 2023, as of last February. It is a decrease of 0.06 from the previous year's 0.78. The "Population Trends for February 2024" released by Statistics Korea in April also confirms the trend of population decline in the country. Notably, the number of births in February this year fell below 20,000 to the 19,000 range. This is the lowest number recorded for February since statistics began in 1981.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is promoting the advancement of childcare services as one of the solutions to this serious low birthrate issue. By significantly expanding childcare services, they aim to greatly reduce the child-rearing burden on dual-income couples and others. Increasing the number of qualified individuals who can work as childcare providers will enable faster assistance to families in need of childcare services. Creating an environment where people work together and care together will contribute to solving the low birthrate problem. However, to implement such policies, it is essential to formalize the policy content into legislation.

In February, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family contacted us. They were planning to create a new, easier qualification process for childcare providers and were considering how to concretely incorporate this policy into legislation. Previously, to qualify as a childcare provider, one had to complete 120 hours of training or hold qualifications such as a childcare teacher. The new policy would relax this requirement so that individuals holding qualifications such as care workers, nursing assistants, or family health workers could become childcare providers after completing 40 hours of training.

To implement this, the "Enforcement Rules of the Childcare Support Act," a decree under the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, needed to be amended. After repeated discussions with the policy officials of the Ministry, the Legislation Office proposed delegating the authority to flexibly determine the required training hours to a Ministry of Gender Equality and Family notice, while placing the legal basis for this delegation within the Ministry’s decree. This provided a more flexible alternative to respond to the high demand for childcare providers.

The amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Childcare Support Act, supported by the Legislation Office’s drafting assistance, has completed the legislative notice procedure to gather public opinions. Once finalized and promulgated after review by the Legislation Office, the expanded qualification pathways for childcare providers are expected to reduce the child-rearing burden on families, such as dual-income couples, who need childcare services.

While providing drafting support to various ministries, we have found that there are surprisingly many difficulties in legislating policies. Each time, the Legislation Office reviews legal issues arising in the process of enacting or amending related laws for central administrative agencies to implement policies, assisting the relevant ministries in drafting legislation. In other words, the Legislation Office acts as a helper, working closely with policy departments to carefully prepare legislative drafts that faithfully realize the original intent of the policies.

In 2023 alone, the Legislation Office provided drafting support for 281 legislative cases. Every quarter, the Office surveys central administrative agencies to identify any needs for support in preparing legislative drafts. Through this, the Office encourages the use of its legislative drafting support system and anticipates demand in advance to provide more thorough assistance.

Going forward, the Legislation Office will continue to work closely with ministries responsible for legislation in policy planning and execution, playing a vital role as a helper in legislation to effectively realize policies beneficial to the public.

Lee Wankyu, Commissioner of the Legislation Office