South Korea's child-care service scores 3.9 out of 5, but wait times drag rating down to 2.9

South Korea's government-run child-care service, which sends trained caregivers directly to homes of dual-income couples, single parents and other families with children 12 and under who lack adequate care arrangements, received an overall user satisfaction score of 3.9 out of 5. Respondents identified expanding the pool of caregivers to cut wait times as the most urgent improvement needed.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family on Thursday released results of its "2025 Child-Care Service Survey," conducted from March through December last year, covering 4,000 households using the service and 3,000 caregivers. The survey — the first of its kind — is a nationally approved statistical study conducted every three years under the Child-Care Support Act.

The survey found that 95.1 percent of user households used the service regularly, averaging 4.6 visits and 16 hours and 24 minutes per week. The average monthly out-of-pocket cost per household was 357,000 won ($252).

"Caregiver competency and service quality" and "professionalism and responsiveness of service agency staff" each scored 3.8 out of 5, drawing relatively high marks. By contrast, "wait time for caregiver placement" scored just 2.9 — the lowest rating in the survey.

When asked how long they waited for a caregiver to be assigned, 31.7 percent of respondents said between one week and one month, the most common response. That was followed by less than one week at 28.8 percent and between one and three months at 20.4 percent.

The most frequently cited difficulty during the service process was that "caregiver placement takes too long," at 25.4 percent, followed by "cost burden" at 12.5 percent and "inability to choose a caregiver in advance" at 10.1 percent.

Users rated "expanding caregiver training to reduce wait times" as the top priority for service improvement, giving it 4.2 out of 5. "Increasing government subsidies for service costs" and "expanding the cap on government-supported hours" each followed at 4.1 points.

Some 57.6 percent of eligible households said they intended to use the service in the future. Their reasons included "affordable cost" at 43.2 percent, "trustworthiness as a government program" at 30.6 percent, and "high caregiver expertise due to training provided."

Caregivers worked an average of 118.8 hours per month and took home an average monthly income of 1.6 million won.

On the caregiver side, "work content" and "communication with service users" each scored 3.9 points — the highest satisfaction ratings. The most commonly cited difficulties were "poor non-wage working conditions" at 28.6 percent, "low pay" at 25.3 percent and "job insecurity" at 11.2 percent.

Caregivers identified "raising pay levels" as the most urgently needed improvement, with 39.0 percent selecting it. That was followed by "smoother coordination with user households" at 24.2 percent and "strengthening education for user households" at 21.0 percent.

The ministry said it plans to review ways to ease the cost burden on families with school-age children, after the survey showed they felt a heavier financial strain than families with preschool-age children.

The ministry said it will also research policy improvements and tax benefit measures targeting households with relatively high child-rearing burdens, including dual-income couples, single parents and families with multiple children.

"We will continue to develop system improvements so that families in need of care can access the service when they need it," Minister Won Min-kyung said.