가정양육수당 지원 가구 현황 및 제도 개선 방안

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the characteristics of households receiving support of home care allowance and the current status of use of childcare programs and education services other than daycare centers and kindergartens, and to evaluate the appropriateness of the home care allowance support policy to suggest measures to improve the system. Furthermore, the purpose is to review the current childcare support system and establish an appropriate support system for each child's growth stage. To achieve this purpose, a literature review was conducted on laws, systems and previous overseas researches related to home care allowance, statistical data on children receiving home care allowance were analyzed, surveys on households receiving home care allowance were conducted, and big data analysis, in-depth analysis of FGI, meetings and advisory meetings were conducted. As a result of a survey of households receiving home care allowance for 24 months or more, the use of home care allowance support mostly began at birth but stopped at around age 3 or older due to the use of daycare centers and kindergartens, and then for the purpose of private education such as English academies. There was a persistent dissatisfaction with the amount of home care allowance. On the other hand, although the home care allowance is provided for the purpose of guaranteeing parents' right to choose, this was used for the living expenses of the entire family rather than for the cost of raising the recipient child, and expenditures were in the order of food, essential living expenses, medical expenses, children's insurance, children's savings, and apartment application. In addition, among children aged 24 months or older who received home care allowance, more than half of them planned to use daycare center or kindergarten and 23.9% did not, with 31.4% going to kindergarten, 31.3% to daycare center, and 13.3% to both facilities. More than 30% of children from less than 24 months of age used private academies, tutors, and study materials, and 23.6% of parents participating in the survey answered that the childcare support infrastructure is sufficient. Most of them chose 3 to 4 years of age as the appropriate starting time for daycare centers and kindergartens, and the average was 2.9 years old. 51.6% of the households receiving the 24-month care allowance were in favor of the plan not to support the home care allowance for children aged 3 or older, and the rest were against it. 56.7% of those aged 3 or older were willing to send to a daycare center or kindergarten if the support for home care allowance stopped, and those who were not willing to answered that it was because 39.9% were dissatisfied with the daycare center or kindergarten service, 18.2% were burdened as they have to pay additional monthly fees for daycare center or kindergarten, and 10.3% preferred English education, and 8.3% selected private academies as it was suitable for prior learning in elementary school. As a policy measure, recipients of parental benefit support, that is implemented from 2023, should be expanded from current children aged 0, 1 years to 2 years old, and review removal of the home allowance support policy. However, additional support policies for children who have difficulty using daycare centers/kindergartens due to the characteristics of children, parents, and households should be supplementarily prepared, and it is necessary to induce the use of daycare centers and kindergartens for children of vulnerable groups such as low-income families, and to solve blind spots in infrastructure in areas where population is disappearing such as rural areas and vulnerable areas. In recent years, cash subsidies policies that have similar and overlapping support purpose and recipients such as child allowance and infant allowance have been introduced in addition to the home care allowance. However, since beneficiaries of these policies could not properly distinguish between these policies or know exactly about the contents of support, it is necessary to simplify the policies and increase publicity to raise the awareness of the policies. Cash subsidies such as infant allowance and parent allowance can be used to expand childcare support services that can alleviate parents’ burden on childcare such as childcare support program (full day), part-time childcare, and rental services such as toys, books, and childcare items. The Support Center for Childcare is already providing services centered on infants, such as rental of toys and books, and parent-child experience centers, so services for toddlers should be expanded. Furthermore, measures to operate childcare support centers in the form base centers such as branch offices for areas with difficult access such as rural areas should be reviewed.