A parent takes a photo of her child with her dad on the first day of school at an elementary school in Gangdong District, eastern Seoul, March 2, 2024. Korea Times photo by Choi Ju-yeon

The rising demand for public child care, coupled with a shortage of providers, is increasing wait times for households seeking to access these resources.

The government is accelerating efforts to revise legislation that would allow the country to register and oversee private organizations offering child care, aiming to address the supply shortage. While there are criticisms that improving working conditions for public child care providers should take priority, experts argue that expanding service providers is inevitable.

According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family on Wednesday, the average wait time for households seeking public child care services stood at 32.8 days last year. The wait time has steadily increased annually, from 8.3 days in 2020 to 19 days in 2021, 27.8 days in 2022, and 33 days in 2023, surpassing a full month.

The government-run service provides care for children under 12, primarily supporting dual-income households that may face difficulties in balancing work and child-rearing. To ease the financial burden, the ministry offers subsidies based on income levels.

As the ministry expanded eligibility for subsidies — from households earning up to 150 percent of the median income to those earning up to 200 percent — demand for the service has surged.

The number of applicants has more than doubled, from 66,000 in 2020 to approximately 139,000 last year. The number of households actually using the service also increased significantly, from around 59,000 in 2020 to 118,000 in 2024.

However, the supply of caregivers has not kept pace. Over the same period, the number of caregivers grew by just 21.1 percent, from 24,000 to 29,000. As of last year, each caregiver was responsible for assisting an average of four households.

In response, the gender ministry plans to strengthen the verification of civil caregivers' qualifications, aiming to integrate them into the public child care system to address the supply shortage.

On Thursday, the National Assembly will decide on a revised bill that introduces a registration system for private child care providers. The law will set specific standards for facility registration and require government oversight of registered institutions to ensure quality and reliability in child care services.

Gov't-private sector cooperation

Experts argue that relying solely on the government for child care services has limitations, emphasizing the need for both public and private sectors to work together to meet growing demand.

"The need for child care services is expanding beyond daytime hours to include specific times or unexpected situations when parents require urgent [child] care [services] due to work,” said Jung Jae-hoon, a professor of social welfare at Seoul Women's University and president of the Gyeongbuk Happiness Foundation. "Public services alone cannot fully accommodate these demands.”

Jung also noted that demand for child care services is likely to continue rising.

"Dual-income households have become more common, but there is still room for growth, as women employment rates remain relatively low," he said.

Chung Ick-joong, a professor of social welfare at Ewha Womans University, emphasized that if the government establishes strict qualification standards for caregivers, collaboration with the private sector will be essential in addressing the growing demand.

"With sufficient verification of qualifications such as checkups and inquiry of history of crimes, the private sector can [provide] solutions as the public sector can't handle the whole demand as this supply shortage has been a problem for a while," he said.

He also pointed out that child care demand is closely tied to birthrates, which poses a long-term challenge for the public sector.

"The public sector lacks the flexibility to adapt to fluctuating demand," Chung said. "While demand is currently rising, Korea's low birthrate shows the possibility that it could decline in the future."

"If the government implements a strict oversight system for private caregiving institutions, working with the private sector could be a viable solution," he added.