Home-Based Childcare Teacher Program Becomes 'Half-Baked Project'

Gyeonggi Province's specialized initiative to support dual-income families through a home-based childcare teacher program is becoming concentrated in only certain urban areas, leading to criticism that it has devolved into a 'half-baked childcare project.'

Kang Deuk-gu, a member of the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly (Women, Family and Lifelong Education Committee, Democratic Party, Anyang District 2), pointed out during an administrative audit of the Gyeonggi Province Women and Family Bureau on the 14th that "as of September this year, Suwon had the highest number of home-based childcare teacher connections at 56 cases, followed by Goyang with 45 cases, Bucheon with 37 cases, Seongnam with 30 cases, Yongin with 28 cases, Anyang with 25 cases, and Ansan with 23 cases, showing that support has been concentrated in urban areas."

Meanwhile, 20 cities and counties showed 10 or fewer cases of home-based childcare teacher connections, and there were 7 cities and counties—including Yangpyeong, Gapyeong, and Yeoncheon counties, as well as Yangju, Pocheon, Gwangju, and Hanam cities—that had not received a single application.

Responding to the urban concentration criticism, Gyeonggi Province explained that rural areas have relatively lower numbers of dual-income couples and childcare demand compared to urban areas, which is why the project is concentrated in certain regions.

Kang pointed out that when compared with the government-led 'child minding project,' even looking at Yangpyeong County alone, which received zero applications for the home-based childcare teacher program, the results show 577 households connected to hourly childcare services and 54 households connected to full-time childcare workers. This suggests that there may be problems with the program implementation approach or insufficient promotion.

"The home-based childcare teacher system, which is uniquely implemented only by the province, shows high user satisfaction, indicating that the problems are not necessarily with the project itself but rather with certain aspects of the implementation process," Kang said. "The province needs to promptly develop improvement plans to support its specialized projects in a balanced and efficient manner."