The socio and political conundrum around the policy initiative of free childcare in South Korea

We discuss the socio and political conundrum around the policy initiative of free
childcare, introduced since 2013 in South Korea. With the utmost policy concern being that
around the low fertility rate (1.08: recorded as lowest among OECD countries in 2003) and the
promotion of women working in the labour market, the state’s responsibility for childcare has
dramatically increased until today. Due to political populism during the presidential election
in 2013, the policy agenda of free childcare for all children up to five years old went through
many political conflicts, especially those related to the budget allocation between central and
local governments. In 2016, the free childcare has been even more extended with the name
of ‘customised childcare’, was providing six hours free childcare per day for full-time mothers
and 12 hours for those seeking employment or requiring long term childcare due to their
participation in the labour market. This customised free childcare has caused tensions
between full-time mothers and working mothers. Moreover, counter intuitively the free
childcare has hardly been welcomed by experts and practitioners in the field of childcare.
We gather and discuss the socio and political dilemmas surrounding the current policy
initiative of free childcare at this time in South Korea. We ask why do we need free childcare
and for whom? To what extent should the state’s role be that of carer? How much should the
parents pay for their childcare? By questioning these, the outcomes of the research will point
to future policy directions with regard to free childcare for those countries where take the
policy lessons from the case of free childcare in South Korea.