S. Korea to spend W10tr on infant, toddler care next year

The government plans to raise next year's budget for infant and toddler care to 10 trillion won ($7.36 billion), extending free education and care support to all children aged 3 to 5. A program to reduce the number of children per teacher will also be expanded to cover 1-year-old classrooms, and both daycare teacher allowances and infant care fees will increase.

Minister of Planning and Budget Park Hong-keun visited Mallri Daycare Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday to outline the 2027 budget proposal and hold a roundtable with parents and daycare teachers. The infant and toddler care allocation in next year's budget rises 7.2 percent, from 9.3 trillion won this year to 10 trillion won.

The free education and care program, previously limited to 4- and 5-year-olds, will be extended to include 3-year-olds. Among the additional costs currently borne by parents, the government will cover up to 20,000 won per month for after-school programs at public kindergartens, 110,000 won per month for tuition at private kindergartens, and 70,000 won per month for miscellaneous fees at daycare centers.

The teacher-to-child ratio improvement program, already in place for infant classrooms, will expand to cover 1-year-old classrooms as well. For infants, the number of children per teacher will fall from three to two; for 1-year-olds, from five to four. On top of covering 80 percent of the additional hiring costs, the government will introduce new monthly subsidies of 200,000 won per teacher for infant classrooms and 100,000 won for 1-year-old classrooms.

Monthly allowances for daycare teachers will rise by 10,000 to 20,000 won. Teachers in infant classrooms will see their allowance increase from 280,000 won to 300,000 won, while lead teachers in toddler classrooms will go from 380,000 won to 400,000 won. Allowances for extended-hours teachers will rise from 140,000 won to 150,000 won per month. The Ministry of Planning and Budget said the increases follow a raise implemented this year, ending a freeze in place from 2023 through 2025.

Care fees for children aged 0 to 2 will increase by 3 percent. For infants, the monthly parental care fee will rise from 584,000 won to 602,000 won.

The visit was organized to highlight the government's push to increase investment in early childhood and higher and lifelong education through a restructuring of local education finance grants. Park held a higher education roundtable at Pusan National University on Sept. 10 before visiting the daycare center Wednesday to present the budget proposal and hear from those working on the ground.

Park said a robust national childcare system is essential to easing the burden of marriage, childbirth and child-rearing on younger generations, and to addressing challenges tied to sustainable growth — including the low birth rate and expanding women's participation in the labor market.

Participants at the roundtable called for greater government responsibility in providing quality meals, ensuring safe care environments and reducing the workload on teachers. Park said the government would continue to strengthen the infant and toddler care budget to balance investment across the education sector, and pledged to work closely with the field in preparing for the integration of daycare centers and kindergartens to raise service standards at both.