[Reporter's Notebook] There's more to childcare than money

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By Jun Ji-hye

As a journalist and mother of a 17-month-old baby, I share the same concerns about childcare that many working moms grapple with every day.

Then, I asked myself if I would be willing to hire a foreign nanny who will look after my son for a cheaper fee than a Korean one while I work, as the government is pursuing a pilot program to allow Southeast Asian domestic helpers to work in Seoul as early as this year.

My answer was "no" for now, because there are many more things to consider than just lower costs to hire such helpers.

One of the biggest concerns mothers have when leaving a baby with nannies is how much they can trust them.

Such concerns transcend nationality, as news about child abuse committed by Korean nannies have already been reported quite often, and some of those nannies were recruited through the government's childcare support program.

So my question is, how thoroughly can the government run background checks on foreign nannies in its hastily prepared pilot program, at a time when the existing program recruiting Korean nannies has sometimes failed to sort out potential problems.

In addition, it would not be an easy decision for some mothers to hire a nanny who speaks a different language than they do.

The ongoing discussions about the government's pilot program has largely neglected the concerns of one of the key stakeholders ― ordinary mothers. The discussions have mostly ― or only ― revolved around cost, with politicians busy stressing the cost effectiveness of a foreign domestic worker.

Under existing laws, the domestic and care sectors have strict provisions on who is eligible to work as domestic helpers.

The government is pushing for the pilot project to bring workers from Southeast Asian countries to reduce the burden of childcare and housework for parents here.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon suggested the idea during a Cabinet meeting in September last year as a measure to boost the country's record-low birthrate. Then, President Yoon Suk Yeol instructed government officials to push for the measure at a Cabinet meeting on May 23.

Debates regarding the project ― and the cost ― have since drawn public attention.

The mayor cited examples of Hong Kong and Singapore that introduced the foreign domestic worker system in the 1970s. He said it costs 2 million won ($1,500) to 3 million won per month to hire a domestic helper in Korea, but monthly salaries for foreign domestic workers in Singapore stood only at 380,000 won to 760,000 won.

In March, Rep. Cho Jung-hun of the minor opposition Transition Korea party submitted a revised bill designed to exempt foreign domestic workers from minimum wage requirements. He suggested such workers could be hired in Korea at monthly salaries of 700,000 won to 1 million won.

However, due to concerns of discrimination, the Ministry of Employment and Labor's pilot program does not include the previously suggested provisions for exempting helpers from being paid the minimum wage.

As a result, Korea's minimum wage of 9,620 won per hour would be applied to all foreign domestic helpers. If a helper works eight hours a day, five days a week, they would be entitled to a monthly wage of around 2 million won. According to the ministry, this amount is about 30 percent lower than the wages typically earned by domestic helpers in Korea at present.

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However, the cost should not be the sole focus. The government should remember that the clients of the foreign domestic worker system are infants, toddlers and children who are too young to have a say.

The government should also think carefully about the long-term impact of the system as the consequences emerging from the childcare shake-up will eventually become clear.

In addition, more in-depth studies will be necessary to find out whether the introduction of the system will really help boost the country's low birthrate.

Korea Labor Institute researcher Cho Hyuck-jin, who studied cases in countries that have already introduced the system, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Taiwan, said, "The major aim of the system is boosting the birthrate as well as women's economic participation rate, but statistically, there were no meaningful relationships between the three factors when looking at cases in other countries."

It is true that working parents desperately need help in raising children, but at the same time, the quality of childcare can never be compromised, as it directly affects the life of our children.

This is why some working parents ― mostly mothers ― are pushed to make the difficult decision to end their careers after failing to find suitable people to help look after and raise their children.

Japan had prepared for the domestic helper system changes for four years before introducing it in 2017.

In Korea, it has been less than a year since these discussions began in earnest. The government should be more cautious and prepared rather than hastily launching a system that could have far-reaching consequences.