Visit to Mapo-gu Public Workplace Daycare Center
On the 7th, Kim Moon-soo, Minister of Employment and Labor, stated, "Daycare centers must be well operated so that working parents can entrust their children with peace of mind," adding, "We intend to listen to field opinions on daycare center improvement measures and actively reflect them in low birthrate countermeasures."
On the same day, Minister Kim visited a public workplace daycare center located in Mapo-gu, Seoul, and made these remarks. Public workplace daycare centers are established and operated directly by the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service for workers in small and micro enterprises. Since the first center opened in 1996, there are currently 37 centers nationwide. The purpose is to provide public childcare not only to dual-income small business workers but also to parents who are self-employed or not enrolled in employment insurance.
During a conversation with childcare staff, Minister Kim said, "While serving as Governor of Gyeonggi Province, I promoted creating a child-friendly environment as a key task, including designating Ajou University Hospital as the nation's first general hospital with a 24-hour daycare center. Last year, we amended the three childcare support laws, and this year, we allocated a budget of 4 trillion won to expand support, including raising parental leave benefits to a maximum of 2.5 million won starting this month."
He continued, "In particular, for workplace daycare centers, we newly established a 1 billion won personnel expense fund to respond to urgent childcare needs such as parents suddenly working overtime. Starting from the 23rd of next month, the parental leave period will be extended to 1 year and 6 months, allowing couples to use up to 3 years combined."
After encouraging the childcare staff, Minister Kim handed out snacks, a Godragon doll?the mascot of the Ministry of Employment and Labor?and separately prepared gifts to the children as he saw them off on their way home.
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