Cheap childcare? South Korea’s Filipina caregiver programme found it wasn’t
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South Korea had planned to expand the foreign caregiver programme, but it failed to gain traction.
PHOTO: ST FILE
SEOUL – Seoul’s attempt to address South Korea’s low birth rate through an influx of foreign caregivers
The project began in August 2024, when 100 Filipina caregivers entered the country on E-9 non-professional work visas, aiming to reduce high childcare costs, widely cited as a major factor behind South Korea’s low birth rate.
Seoul had planned to expand the programme to 1,200 caregivers with full implementation from March. The programme, however, failed to gain traction. Higher-than-expected wages fuelled public doubts about its effectiveness, leaving the project’s future uncertain.
Costs matched South Korean rates
The cost of the childcare service has reached levels comparable to those provided by South Korean nationals in Seoul, as the city failed to implement a lower wage system.
Between September 2024 and February, the hourly rate was set at 13,940 won (S$12.30), translating into a monthly cost of about 2.42 million won for a 40-hour working week.
From March, monthly fees rose by an additional 497,000 won, as the workers became eligible for severance pay under South Korea’s Labour Standards Act once their contracts exceeded one year.
Demand skewed to wealthy districts
The high prices skewed demand towards relatively affluent households, prompting criticism that the policy primarily benefited families already able to afford childcare services.
A February survey by the Labour Ministry showed that 73 per cent of subscribers were households with combined monthly incomes exceeding nine million won.
Residents of higher-income districts, including Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu and Songpa-gu, accounted for 40 per cent of users.
Government to retain existing workers
“Although there will be no further expansion of the foreign nanny project, the Ministry of Employment and Labour will support the stable employment of those already participating,” a ministry official said.
“The nannies will be eligible to extend their work permits, in line with rules applied to other E-9 visa holders.”
Of the 100 Filipina caregivers who entered South Korea
Under the E-9 visa for service sector workers, job changes are permitted up to three times within the sector.
The remaining 82, employed as household childcare workers in Seoul, will be allowed to continue in service jobs nationwide for up to 58 months.
Clash over labour standards
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon repeatedly suggested exempting the foreign domestic workers from parts of South Korea’s labour standards, including the minimum wage. He cited examples from Hong Kong and Singapore, where foreign domestic helpers are employed at lower monthly costs.
The Labour Ministry and labour rights groups, however, strongly opposed the idea, arguing that South Korea, as a member of the International Labour Organization, is obliged to apply labour laws equally to South Korean and foreign workers.
In June, Mr Oh acknowledged that the initial concept behind the project had limitations.
“The idea of introducing very low-cost foreign labour is, in reality, difficult to justify when considering South Korea’s international standing and labour environment,” he said during a city council meeting.
Experts warn of deeper structural issues
Experts say South Korea’s high childcare costs stem from deeper structural problems and cannot be resolved simply by introducing cheaper labour.
“The sector has long been characterised by entrenched low wages, rooted in the perception that childcare is low-skilled work that anyone can do,” said Korea Labor Institute research fellow Cho Hyuk-jin.
“If wages are already lower than what the labour intensity warrants, would foreign workers remain if they were paid even less than South Koreans? Such a system would not be sustainable.”
Activists for childcare workers’ rights also said the approach was short-sighted, arguing that the attempt sidestepped the more fundamental task of expanding high-quality public childcare.
“The government should move towards policies that both elevate the value of care work and ease the burden of childcare,” said an official from the Federation of Korean Trade Unions. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
