Seoul expands late-night child care with KB Financial Group support

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Thursday it will expand eligibility for its private child care subsidy program to include night-shift workers, helping parents who struggle to find child care due to late or irregular working hours.

The program previously covered employees of small businesses and companies participating in the city's work-life balance points scheme. Going forward, it will also extend to shift and rotating workers, labor contractors, platform workers and freelancers who work at night.

The program subsidizes the cost of private child care services for families whose work schedules — irregular hours, night shifts or holiday work — make it difficult to care for their children. Funded by a donation from KB Financial Group, it aims to ease the child-rearing burden on parents and help them balance work and family life.

Newly eligible night-shift workers are defined as those who regularly and repeatedly work between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Eligible workers include shift and rotating staff at hospitals and care facilities, flexible-hours workers and late-night service industry employees, as well as labor contractors, delivery and platform workers, and freelancers who perform work during those hours.

Eligible families can receive up to 3.6 million won ($2,630) per child — for children aged 3 months to 12 years — toward private child care service fees, or up to 5.4 million won for two children. The out-of-pocket cost has been set at 2,000 won per hour to keep the program affordable.

To ensure parents can leave their children in safe hands even during late-night hours, the city will also strengthen safety measures, including mandatory pre-service training for care workers and an emergency contact system. A dedicated agency will be on call to respond quickly to unexpected situations such as a guardian's delayed return, loss of contact or a child's medical emergency. Care workers participating in the late-night pilot will be issued the city's portable personal safety alarm, the "Donghang Ansim Bell," to protect their safety during late-night travel and while on duty.

During the pilot period, the city plans to analyze usage data and service satisfaction to develop operational guidelines and improvements for the late-night care program.

Applications are open from Thursday through Sept. 18 on the Seoul Metropolitan Government's parenting information portal, "Tansaeng Yuga Mongtang Jeongbotong." Eligible applicants include small business owners and their employees operating in Seoul, workers at companies enrolled in the work-life balance points scheme, and night-shift workers who live in Seoul and work at Seoul-based businesses.

Separately, the city plans to invest 1.88 trillion won by 2030 to expand its broader child care program aimed at reducing the financial burden of child-rearing on parents.

"We will expand child care support to cover a wider range of night-shift workers — including shift workers and platform workers — so that parents can work late with peace of mind," said Ma Chae-suk, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Women and Family Bureau.