Daycare shortage hits South Korea
Births rise as number of centers for children continues to fall
Editor's note: In this weekly feature China Daily gives voice to Asia and its people. The stories presented come mainly from the Asia News Network (ANN), of which China Daily is among its 20 leading titles.
A 35-year-old father of two, ages 2 and 4, has waited 18 months for a place for his younger child at a public daycare center in Gwangjin, Seoul.
"My child is No 285 on the waiting list. Most of the parents waiting for places have children aged 0 to 2," said the father, who asked not to be named. "My wife works part time to care for our children, so our household income has fallen."
He filed a complaint with the Gwangjin District Office, questioning why it had not anticipated childcare demand when a new apartment complex was built.
Privately operated and home-based daycare centers offer alternatives to public facilities, but parents say finding an available place along their commuting routes can be difficult.
"If you apply as soon as your baby is born, a place usually opens up around their first birthday," said a mother in Dongjak, Seoul, who is expecting her second baby next year.
The parents' accounts suggest that a nationwide decline in daycare centers is making it harder to find places locally, especially for infants.
The number of daycare centers in South Korea fell for the 12th consecutive year from a 2013 peak of 43,770 to 26,064 in 2025 — a decline of about 40 percent. The total was also 4.8 percent lower than in 2024, according to Ministry of Health and Welfare data.
"The government's expansion of free childcare in 2013 led to a surge in enrollment, including among infants who might otherwise have been cared for at home, and the number of home-based childcare centers grew sharply," said Choi Hyo-mi, a senior research fellow at the (South) Korea Institute of Child Care and Education.
"As the number of children continues to fall, centers struggle to meet the minimum enrollment required to qualify for government subsidies and cover teachers' salaries, leading to closures."
