영유아 교육·보육비용 추정연구(Ⅳ)

Abstract

This study represents the fourth-year installment in a 5-year research project, “Infants Education and Child-care Cost Estimate Research”, with the objective of exploring policy alternatives through the analysis of the actual costs spent by households with early children(infants and toddlers) on education and childcare services, in addition to the effects of government-provided subsidies. The results from the analysis utilizing the KLIPS data regarding the efficacy of support policies for education and childcare costs for early children are as follows. First, in all cohorts, direct care by the parents was the most prevalent mode of childcare for early children who had not yet reached their first year, regardless of the year of birth. The age at which children were first sent to childcare centers tended to be progressively earlier in the more recent cohorts. In particular, the use of childcare centers by children aged 1 or above grew dramatically since 2012 - the year when full cost support was extended to households of all incomes. Second, in 2012, a decrease (compared to the previous year) was observed in the average expenditure on education and childcare services among children of the same age. However, this cost decrease took place only in 2012, with the expenditure on education and childcare among households with early children rising again in 2013 - the year when full cost support in addition to childcare allowance payments were extended to infants of all ages from households of all incomes. Third, quantile regression analysis was conducted to account for the possibly disparate distributions across groups defined by the level of expenditure on education and childcare services. Results of the quantile regression indicate positive (+) household income elasticities in all quantiles, with larger elasticities observed among quantiles with lower expenditure. Meanwhile, in 2016, the average monthly expenditure on childcare and education services among households with early children was 169,000 KRW, with elder children being associated with higher levels of expenditure. In terms of the type of service used, the monthly average expenditure among children in daycare centers was 65,000 KRW while the average expenditure among children enrolled in kindergarten was 194,000 KRW. The average total cost of time-based private education services was 118,000 KRW, with higher expenditure and a wider variety of services used among children of higher age and in higher-income households. The majority of children under individual childcare services were cared for by relatives, with the babysitter being paid an average monthly fee of 563,000 KRW. Among these cases, the highest expenditure was associated with children under the age of 1. The average estimated monthly expenditure on education and childcare per child was 195,000 KRW. The cost estimates for private education and time-based private education were 43,000 KRW and 40,000 KRW, respectively. Scaling this to annual figures for the country as a whole, the total estimated cost stood at 6,411,485.34 million KRW. Next, the views expressed by the interviewed parents of early children about their future plans regarding education and childcare and the relevant government policies may be summarized as follows. First, when asked about the degree of their willingness to bear additional costs in the event of cost increases in the use of childcare centers or kindergartens, 47.6% of the parents responded that they would 'continue using the current facility regardless of the cost increase'. Those who gave a reservation price - indicating the maximum level of additional fees they would be willing to pay for childcare centers or kindergartens - responded that they were willing to pay an additional 57,000 KRW on average. Second, 83.4% of parents expressed approval (strongly agree + agree) for the current support policies for education and childcare costs. 70% responded that the support payments should be kept at current levels, while 30% responded that an increase beyond current levels was needed. Third, 84.9% of parents expressed approval (strongly agree + agree) for the current support policies for childcare allowance. 63.9% responded that the current level of allowance payments was adequate, while 30.1% expressed the need for larger allowance payments. Fourth, the majority of parents (78.9%) responded that they would 'continue sending their child to the current childcare center or kindergarten' even if childcare allowances were to be increased to match the level of the subsidies for education and childcare costs. The chief reason for their willingness to continue the use of facilities was so that the child could 'develop peer experiences (50.0%)' . Based on these findings, we proposed several improvements in the support policies for the education and care of early children.