The government has set a goal to increase the number of national and public daycares by 500 each year, for a total of 1,000, from 2023 to 2024. This is due to concerns about a lack of places to leave children as private daycares close down because of low birth rates. However, the total number of national and public daycares that have increased over the past two years is 576, only 57% of the government's goal.
According to statistics from the Korea Social Security Information Service on childcare projects as of the end of December last year, there were 6,521 national and public daycares in the country, an increase of 5.4% (334) from the previous year (6,187).
National and public daycares are those established and operated by the state or local governments. This includes cases where the state or local governments have entrusted operations to private entities. The remaining types, such as social welfare corporation-operated daycares, workplace daycares, and home daycares, are operated privately.
Due to the effects of low birth rates, private daycares continue to decrease. The total number of daycares in the country rose to 43,776 in 2013, but has been declining for 11 consecutive years, leaving only 27,387 as of December last year. In 2013, the number of newborns in Korea was 436,455, but it has decreased each year, recording 230,028 in 2023. The number of newborns has roughly halved in the past decade.
As a result, there have been demands from parents to increase the number of national and public daycares. Due to limited capacity, many parents opted for private daycares, but these too have frequently been closing down.
In light of this, the government had stated intentions to increase the number of national and public daycares by 500 each year. In March 2023, the Low Birth Rate and Aging Society Committee and related ministries revealed this plan. Among parents with children, the preference for national and public daycares is said to be higher than for private daycares due to the perception that they can be "trusted and relied upon."
However, in the two years since the government's announcement, there has not been a single year in which the number of national and public daycares increased by 500. By the end of 2023, there was an increase of 242, and last year, 334. To meet the goal, around 41 new daycares should be installed each month, but there were months when only 4 were added.
The primary government agency overseeing the expansion of daycares is the Ministry of Education. Originally, this responsibility lay with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, but it was transferred to the Ministry of Education starting in June of last year. This change was made to unify the management systems of early childhood education and care, which had been divided between kindergartens and daycares. Accordingly, the Ministry of Education and local education offices took over early childhood care responsibilities previously managed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and local governments.
The reason for the slow expansion of national and public daycares compared to government plans is low birth rates. It is a policy introduced as a countermeasure against low birth rates, and yet it is struggling with the very same issue. A Ministry of Education official noted that "a demand survey for expanding national and public daycares was conducted by local governments, but it was low" and stated, "We cannot just increase daycares when there are no children."
Local governments are also in a difficult situation. A local government official from the metropolitan area stated, "Due to low birth rates, even national and public daycares cannot fill half of their capacity, resulting in closures" and added, "Ultimately, budgets such as national, city, and district funds need to be supported, but they inevitably depend on the financial situation of each local government." Another local government official remarked, "There are simply not enough children" and said, "In rural areas, expanding national and public daycares will be even more challenging."