Childcare Allowance Budget Execution Rate at 71.6%... "Worker Shortage Must Be Addressed"

Unused Childcare Allowance Reaches 108.9 Billion Won
Demand Exists, but Worker Shortage Leads to Month-Long Waits
"Measures Needed to Encourage Actual Childcare Worker Participation"

The actual execution rate of the government-provided childcare service allowance budget was only 71.6% last year. This is because, despite the demand, a shortage of childcare workers prevents actual service matching from taking place. There have been suggestions that ministries need to make more active efforts to recruit additional childcare workers.

According to the "2024 Fiscal Year Settlement Analysis" released by the National Assembly Budget Office on August 5, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family executed 275.212 billion won (71.6%) out of the 384.117 billion won budgeted for childcare allowances last year. The unused amount reached 108.905 billion won. The actual execution rate was as high as 98.6% in 2021, but it has been declining for four consecutive years?95.6% in 2022 and 82.3% in 2023. The childcare allowance is a budget item that directly supports the costs of childcare services. The government-supported childcare service is more affordable and considered more reliable than private alternatives, which has led to increased demand.

The declining execution rate of the childcare allowance can ultimately be interpreted as a result of the shortage of childcare workers. The number of households seeking the service continues to rise, and the budget has increased accordingly, but the limited number of childcare workers makes it difficult to meet this demand. As a result, both waiting days and the number of households on the waiting list have increased. The number of households using the childcare service rose from 71,789 in 2021 to 118,126 last year. In 2024, the average waiting period for the service was 32.8 days, with 9,519 households on the waiting list. Although this is an improvement from 13,031 households and 33.0 days in 2023, families still have to wait about a month after applying to actually receive childcare services. There are also significant regional disparities. In Chungnam, the average waiting period is 12.9 days, while in Gangwon it is as high as 45.7 days, a difference of about 32 days.

Ultimately, there are calls for ministries to make concrete efforts to increase the number of childcare workers. Last year, 7,204 people completed childcare worker training, achieving 120.1% of the budgeted target for the first time in the past five years. However, the number of active childcare workers was only 29,635, which is 84.9% of the budgeted target of 34,908. The National Assembly Budget Office stated, "The increase in the number of people completing training alone does not translate into an actual increase in childcare workers in the field," and suggested, "It is necessary to devise measures to encourage those who complete training to transition into active childcare work and to continue their activities." In addition, the office noted, "For stable service provision in the future, efforts must continue to improve the working conditions of childcare workers, such as raising the childcare allowance, along with enhancing the quality of the workforce."