[Provided by Songpa-gu]
[Provided by Songpa-gu]

Seoul's Songpa-gu announced Monday it is expanding support for a wide range of caregivers — from parents of infants and toddlers to grandparents raising grandchildren.

The most notable new offering is "Songpa Parents' Empathy Parenting Talk," a KakaoTalk channel that launched June 1. Targeting parents of children under two, the service delivers age-appropriate parenting tips curated by childcare specialists at the Songpa District Comprehensive Childcare Support Center once a month, on the first Monday of each month.

The channel also shares expert columns and information on local childcare support programs and services. Anyone can access it by adding "송파 부모 공감 육아톡" as a friend on KakaoTalk.

Grandparents taking on childcare duties can turn to the "Grandparent Academy," held at the Songpa Comprehensive Childcare Support Center, which teaches proper caregiving methods to those raising infant or toddler grandchildren. After completing its first and second cohorts last year, the program is currently running its third. The district plans to recruit 20 participants for a fourth cohort in the second half of this year.

In addition, the district plans to launch an outreach parenting education program in the second half of this year, sending educators directly to vulnerable households and daycare centers in the area.

"We designed this to provide tailored information suited to the needs of different caregivers, so that families with infants can receive practical help," Songpa-gu District Mayor Seo Gang-seok said. "We will continue to expand thoughtful and diverse childcare support projects to make Songpa a great place to raise children."

Meanwhile, a 2023 Seoul Metropolitan Government survey on substitute caregiving among dual-income households with young children found that 40.1 percent of such households rely on a substitute caregiver, and more than half of those caregivers are grandparents, at 57.1 percent.


cook@heraldcorp.com