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Depopulation in rural areas has left childcare services severely underprovided, yet demand for those services remains high. Experts say the shortage is discouraging childbirth, which in turn accelerates population decline — and that breaking this vicious cycle will require improving access to childcare services, including healthcare.
According to an issue paper released Tuesday by the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education, titled "Perceptions of Childcare Costs and Sufficiency of Childcare Services Among Rural Households with Young Children," the average monthly living expenses for rural households with infants and toddlers stood at 3.33 million won ($2,240) — about 193,000 won less than the national average for households with young children.
Monthly childcare spending by rural households with young children averaged 699,000 won, about 86,000 won below the national average of 785,000 won.
Despite spending less on childcare than the national average, rural households consistently rated the sufficiency of local childcare services and infrastructure below the national average across every category surveyed.
When asked whether there were enough facilities to care for preschool-age children, the national average score was 4.9 points, while rural areas scored 4.2 points. For public institutions providing after-school care for elementary school children, rural areas scored an average of 4.1 points, compared with a national average of 4.3 points.
The gap was even more pronounced in healthcare.
Rural areas scored an average of 2.7 points for the sufficiency of pediatric clinics and hospitals, far below the national average of 4.4 points. For public medical institutions such as community health centers, rural areas averaged 3.5 points against a national average of 4.2 points.
Choi Hyo-mi, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education and the report's author, said the findings show that childcare conditions for rural households with young children "are not simply a matter of cost, but are closely tied to the accessibility of childcare services — including healthcare, child-rearing support and cultural resources."
Choi recommended building a healthcare supply chain tailored to local living areas, expanding mobile health and medical services, developing multipurpose cultural facilities using existing public infrastructure, and strengthening outreach-based cultural and childcare support services to improve the childcare environment for rural families.
thlee@heraldcorp.com
