The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said it will hold a roundtable on the 12th to discuss easing the burden of childbirth and child care for women and young microbusiness owners and strengthening the social safety net.
The roundtable was arranged at business sites run by a young couple who are microbusiness owners to discuss support measures for microbusiness owners who, despite facing business downtime and income loss during childbirth and child care, have been relatively left in blind spots under existing maternity protection systems, and to reflect on-the-ground opinions in policy.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) held the roundtable to hear opinions from women and young microbusiness owners, child care policy experts, and related institution officials and to seek practical support measures.
Before the roundtable, Minister Han Seong-sook of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) visited business sites such as You Make Cookie and Atelier Boeun, which are run by one-person women and young microbusiness owners.
In the on-site case presentations, CEO Cho Yoon-su of Genie the Bottle and others shared experiences of juggling livelihoods with childbirth and child care. Cho explained not only the process of successfully restarting after a first startup failure, but also the difficulties of sustaining a livelihood as a one-person woman microbusiness owner while raising three children. Cho also said that an institutional safety net is needed to address issues such as compensating for income gaps during childbirth and child care.
In the open discussion, participants discussed policy support measures and directions for system improvements for women and young microbusiness owners.
Minister Han Seong-sook of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) said, "The social safety net has so far been designed with a focus on employees, and there has been an aspect in which it has not sufficiently covered all working people," and added, "We will strengthen the social safety net that supports both child care and store operations so that women and young microbusiness owners can continue their livelihoods with peace of mind while raising children."
Starting with this roundtable, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) plans to sequentially promote the social safety net series of roundtables, including ▲ a roundtable on easing the burden of business suspension and closure (second), ▲ a roundtable on the health and retirement safety net for microbusiness owners (third). The idea is to build a life-cycle safety net that covers everything from child care and health care for microbusiness owners to social and policy insurance and mutual aid.