영유아 양육 물가 현황과 지수화 방안

Abstract

Despite the government’s continuous effort to expand childrearing support policies, the cost burden of childrearing remains high. As this issue is closely related to the prices of products and services associated with childrearing, the objective calculation of the cost of childrearing goods and services and a greater understanding of current trends is needed. This basic research is a pre-study for calculating the ‘childrearing price index’, which is necessary when calculating the cost level and changes associated with raising a child. This paper aims to identify the most commonly purchased items in childrearing, and give weighting for each of the items. First of all, an analysis of related documents and statistics was conducted. A survey of 450 parents residing in Seoul with at least one infant child was conducted in order to investigate their household expenditure. Products and services accounting for more than 10% of the total household expenditure were included. Among the 64 items, 52 were products whereas 12 were services, and these can be broken down according to the following categories: 10 products and 1 service fell into the food category; 15 products into the clothing and footwear category; 6 products into housing, water costs, electricity, and other fuels; 4 products into furnishing, household equipment and routine household maintenance; 7 products into medical supplies and appliances; 2 into healthcare service; 7 products into recreation and cultural entertainment; 2 into related services, 3 products into educational supplies, 3 into educational service, and 4 fell into the category of miscellaneous goods and services. In order to measure the current childrearing price level, there were several special requirements. First, a market-price survey manual containing detailed and accurate information on the features and types of products and services was required. The sampling area, which should be selected on the basis of the consumer price index and the market share data, was another key issue In future studies, it is also recommended that 10 urban areas be selected according to the index and data, and that survey locations are distributed evenly across dense and more sparsely populated areas.