Gyeonggi Province Actively Supports Construction of Public Childcare Centers and Conversion of Private and Home-Based Centers to Public Status

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hoon Reporter] Gyeonggi Province is actively supporting the construction of new public childcare centers and the conversion of private and home-based childcare centers to public status.

According to the province on the 24th, among 567 eups, myeons, and dongs in Gyeonggi Province, a total of 136 areas (approximately 24%) have no public childcare centers, and among these, 68 areas have populations of 300 or more infants and toddlers.

Meanwhile, Dasan 1-dong in Namyangju and Dongtan 7-dong in Hwaseong have 22 and public childcare centers respectively, Godeok-dong in Pyeongtaek has 21, and Gamil-dong in Hanam has 17, showing severe regional imbalances.

The province explained that since 2019, the installation of public childcare centers has been mandatory for apartment complexes with 500 or more households under the Infant and Toddler Care Act, resulting in concentrated installation in new city apartment complexes.

The closure problem of childcare centers in Gyeonggi Province is severe.

From 2018 to 2022 over five years, a total of 4,098 childcare centers closed in Gyeonggi Province.

This averages 820 per year.

In 2022, 882 centers closed, and as of April this year, 421 centers have closed, leaving approximately 9,080 childcare centers currently in Gyeonggi Province.

The biggest cause is the low birth rate problem, with the number of infants and toddlers in the province declining by 20% from 816,247 in 2018 to 654,856 in 2022.

Accordingly, the priority installation criteria for public childcare centers have been set to areas with low installation rates of public childcare centers, cities and counties with low utilization rates of public childcare centers, and areas with severely insufficient supply of public childcare centers relative to demand with capacity fulfillment rates of 90% or higher. Starting this year, the province has decided to provide up to 300 million won in additional provincial budget support to actively support new construction of public childcare centers.

If it is difficult to secure land for new construction, the province recommends expanding public childcare centers through purchasing homes in inner city areas or through remodeling.

For priority support areas, such as cases where childcare centers are installed in shared facilities in declining areas and urban regeneration activation areas, an additional 10% of the 300 million won support amount will be provided.

Previously, national funding was provided at fixed amounts for expanding public childcare centers, but because construction unit costs were not reflected in reality, local governments with low fiscal independence had to bear additional construction costs for new public childcare center construction or conversion of existing childcare centers to public status, which posed significant difficulties.

If childcare centers operated in the management buildings of apartment complexes with 300 or more households or public childcare centers are installed using closed childcare centers in management buildings of apartment complexes with 300 or more households, up to 120 million won in provincial budget will be provided in addition to the existing maximum 150 million won in national support for construction costs.

A total of 20 centers will be supported in 2023, with plans to support a total of 80 centers by 2026.

The province conducted a comprehensive survey of childcare centers in management buildings of apartment complexes in March and April 2023 and identified conversion intentions among 1,390 private and home-based childcare centers out of a total of 2,089 childcare centers in management buildings, excluding 699 public childcare centers.

To convert private and home-based childcare centers in management buildings to public childcare centers, applicants can apply through the city and county childcare departments after consultation with the residents' representative council and the representative at centers where the representative and director are the same.

For closed childcare centers in management buildings, applications can be made with the consent of more than half of the residents in the apartment complex.

Through these expansion measures, the province plans to expand public childcare centers from the current 1,370 or so to 170 or more annually by 2026, raising the province's public childcare usage rate from the current 34% to 50% by 2026.

For inquiries regarding public childcare center installation, contact the Gyeonggi Province Childcare Policy Division (031-8008-2542) and the relevant city and county childcare departments.