From this year, Gangdong-gu (Mayor: Lee Hae-sik) will support all “remaining child care fees” for children between the ages of 3-5 enrolled in the Nuri course and attending day care centers.
 
“Remaining child care fees” refers to the required fees to be paid for children attending government-supported day care centers in the Nuri course on top of the child care fees supported by the government.

In order to reduce the economic burden on parents with children attending day care centers who are still paying child care fees despite the implementation of child care benefits in 2013, Gangdong-gu has been supporting a portion of the remaining child care fees to be paid for the Nuri course since 2016.

Despite this support, parents were burdened with an additional 38,000 to 45,000 won in expenses monthly, and issues regarding fairness in comparison to national day care centers, which do not require any child care fees, have consistently been put forth.

In order to resolve this issue, Gangdong-gu has secured a budget of 1.66 billion won for supporting the remaining child care fees, which will begin from January of this year. Recipients of this support will include children in the Nuri course who attend day care centers within Gangdong-gu and who have resident registration in Seoul. About 2,500 children will receive the benefit each month.

The payment will automatically be made to the day care center through a voucher system if the child's parents pay with the i-Happiness Card, meaning they will not have to apply for the support separately.

In addition to supporting the remaining child care fees, Gangdong-gu is planning to expand support for class management fees and food department worker expenses for day care centers from this year to provide high-quality child care services. In addition, a budget for air conditioning/heating to ensure the children's healthy growth has recently been put together, and will be provided to all day care centers in Gangdong-gu.

Mayor Lee Hae-Sik said, "We anticipate a reduction in the economic burden for parents through child care fee support, and an increase in quality of child care. We will do our best to continue to create a reliable environment for child care by investing consistent efforts into reducing the costs of child care and constructing a healthy environment for raising children."

<Related Photos>