Korean Childcare Research Articles

Exploring resistance in family policy transfer: a comparative analysis of the Czech Republic and South Korea

PurposeFamily policy is an area where policy transfer has garnered a lot of attention lately. A growing body of research demonstrates policymakers' interest in and willingness to adopt foreign family policies. However, previous studies have tended to neglect the second mechanism of policy transfer: resistance. This manuscript aims to address this research gap by exploring both the willingness and resistance to policy transfer in Czech and Korean childcare and leave policies.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs a qualitative research design, incorporating structured expert interviews instrumental in in-depth thematic analysis.FindingsThe analysis shows that policymakers in both countries demonstrated interest and willingness to transfer family policies, albeit employing different strategies and to varying extents. Moreover, the two countries exhibited significant differences in resistance to family policy transfer, with resistance in the Czech Republic being more frequent and effective. Resistance is directed towards both forced and voluntary transfers, although it isn't always against transfers that require a paradigm change. Policy transfer and non-transfer can concurrently be perceived as threats.Originality/valueThe study concludes that integrating both policy transfer and resistance in the analyses helps to shed light on cross-national differences in family policy change and contributes to a more nuanced portrayal of the world of policy transfer in this policy field.

Understanding Gaps Between Objective and Subjective Performance Measures: Accreditation of Public Service Organizations and Citizen Satisfaction

Governments use various performance measures to ensure that public services delivered by private-sector providers are safe and meet citizens’ particular needs. These measures can include awarding accreditation and assessing citizen satisfaction. However, few studies have investigated how objective performance measures relate to citizens’ subjective evaluations of providers from the perspective of service users. To fill this gap in the literature, this study closely explores a particular case of the Korean childcare market in which governments administer a large number of private-sector providers that play a dominant role in delivering public services. Our findings indicate the positive accreditation–satisfaction link is weakened when parents may not be aware of a provider's accreditation status or when their selected service provider is nonprofit, as opposed to for-profit. Overall, this study suggests that it is important to understand why there is some degree of incongruence between objective and subjective measures and how these two different performance indicators converge in the data. Special attention should be given to bridging the gap by closely reviewing institutional pressure on service providers and a symbolic impression of accreditation.

Care workers’ sense of responsibility, working conditions, and the quality of care in South Korea

As countries like South Korea expand their paid care services, ensuring quality care has become critical. Since care work involves significant emotional labor, a worker’s sense of responsibility for the care recipient's well-being affects the quality of care delivered. In this study, we explore this particular determinant of quality care that has been underexplored to better understand its nature. However, a worker's sense of responsibility or commitment level is not static and varies depending on various factors including working conditions. Using 2018 Korean childcare and eldercare survey data, we empirically examine the relationship between a worker's commitment levels and working conditions by conducting Tobit and generalized maximum entropy (GME) analyses. Results indicate that training, shorter commutes, predictable schedules, and easy interactions with the care recipient’s family are associated with higher levels of commitment. Our findings highlight the importance of supportive working conditions in promoting quality care.

Korean Childcare Providers' Knowledge, Attitudes, Concerns, and Practices of Febrile Convulsions.

With the increase in the number of childcare facilities, childcare providers’ coping skills to take quick action in emergencies have become crucial. This study was to examine Korean childcare providers’ knowledge, attitudes, concerns, and practices regarding febrile convulsions (FCs), and to identify factors influencing their management of FCs. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a questionnaire of 216 Korean childcare providers. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the sample characteristics and FC questionnaires. The differences in the FC practice by demographic variables were assessed using t-test and one-way analysis of variance. The relationships between FC practice and other variables were investigated using Pearson correlations and regression analysis. The childcare providers showed unfavorable levels of outcomes regarding FCs with a low percentage of correct answers on FC knowledge and recommended practices as well as negative attitudes and concerns toward FCs. Additionally, results indicated that the knowledge, education, attitudes toward, and actual experiences of FCs were related to FC practices. The current findings provide important evidence to develop interventions targeting childcare providers.

Is the Brief Version of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory a Valid and Reliable Measure for Childcare Providers?

ABSTRACT This study aims to validate a Korean version of the Brief Version of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory (BCAP-K) for use with childcare providers in South Korea. By employing a stratified sampling method, 808 childcare providers in charge of infants’ classes were selected for participation. Participants completed a questionnaire that included socio-demographic characteristics, the BCAP-K, frequency of child abuse behaviors, and the Caregiver Interaction Scale. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted to identify what the structure of the BCAP-K should be. Construct validity and internal reliability were also examined. Research Findings: The study’s results revealed that the five-factor model (Distress and loneliness, Family conflict, Happiness, Rigidity, and Feelings of Persecution) was the best model for child abuse potential. All BCAP-K subscales were positively related to the frequency of neglect behaviors and negatively associated with childcare providers’ interaction quality. When controlling for the demographic variables, Rigidity was the strongest factor in predicting both child abuse behaviors and child–caregiver interaction. The internal reliability of the BCAP-K was good. Practice or Policy: The BCAP-K may therefore be an effective and time-efficient tool to screen for child abuse risk among South Korean childcare providers.

정책아이디어의 탐색과 심화 : 보육료정책 목표와 수단의 변화 분석

정책아이디어의 탐색과 심화 : 보육료정책 목표와 수단의 변화 분석

The evolving Korean childcare regime

PurposeThe objective of this paper is to understand changes and progress of the Korean childcare regime by examining the evolutional process of childcare initiatives that were developed since the Japanese colonial rule.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed a qualitative-based research design with a particular emphasis on explanatory research. Meanwhile, the data were gathered through the peer-reviewed literature and reports.FindingsThe findings indicate that Korea has had three types of childcare regimes: effective-informal, productivist and inclusive-liberal orientation. It also pinpoints that while the care regime development followed the European regime, the egalitarian society, which is a social prerequisite for modern welfare state-building, has not yet been fully established. This paradoxical situation eventually impedes the development of universal childcare aimed at promoting gender equality and a work-life balance.Originality/valueThis article offers a model and characteristics of the Korean childcare regime dating back to the Japanese colonial period up until the Moon Jae-In administration, where it still receives less attention in most of the social policy literature (see Table 1).

Conceptualization of Major Stakeholders in Emergency Management of Childcare Facilities

ABSTRACT This study aims to conceptualize the key stakeholders in emergency management of childcare facilities for applicable nations by referring to the Korean case. Qualitative content analysis is the main methodology used. Unique features are gathered from the Korean literature on childcare facilities and then summarized; however, universal principles from the English language literature on international childcare facilities are emphasized. The analysis of five major stakeholders in Korean childcare facilities, namely, governments, community personnel, parents, childcare providers, and children, shows that their current efforts are directed only at general safety management. Multi-hazard management or an integrated approach in terms of social work is thus provided as an alternative for not only Korea but also other nations.

Issues and future directions for Korean childcare policy

PurposeThe paper attempts to closely look into childcare regime in South Korea as well as Korean parents' childcare preference and usage across their young's early years. Through ascertaining Korean family needs in childcare while considering their cultural and social context, directions for future childcare policy development are offered. In so doing, it is hoped to inform Korea and other Asian countries going through similar social and economic changes of ways to build upon childcare policy while taking into account their individual context.Design/methodology/approachA literature review took place using theoretical frameworks of poststructuralism and institutionalized individualization. First, further attention to “problems” on Korean childcare policy is paid while considering the nation's situated cultural and social context. Also, individual families are viewed with autonomy and responsibility in undertaking childcare duties; thus, further individualized childcare service is proposed for the integration of the nation throughout the paper.FindingsIt was found there has been a mismatch between the nation's childcare policy regime and culture. The state exclusively provides defamilialistic childcare service provision, while many Korean families uphold familialism in meeting their childcare demands. In order to meet the sociocultural needs of Korean families, therefore, the enactment of complementary childcare service provision and the establishment of generous parental leave policies were proposed.Originality/valueMany Asian countries work toward resembling egalitarian societies implementing Western policies and values. However, in reality, little change has shown especially in the paradigm of family, family values and family responsibilities in Korea. Therefore, this paper suggests that policymakers should take a careful evaluation of current childcare provisions and strive for gradual improvement rather than radical changes in childcare policy regime.

Current Use of Childcare Service and Reform Tasks for More Effective Service System

Early Childhood Education and Care(ECEC) remains high on the policy agenda in many OECD countries. They all have recently tried to have high quality services for children under 6, and effectively support the families in need of service as one of the work-family reconciliation policy programmes. Since both Lee MyungBak government enacted a cash system for family care at home, and Park GeunHye government introduced no-fee policy system into childcare policy, Korea s childcare service has completely lost it s focus. This paper attempts to review current pattern of use of childcare service based on several policy principles, and highlights the differences between Korean policy frame and OECD countries overall which reveals a quite stark contrast. Since Korean childcare policy has been inconsistent, it is urgent to build up clarity of this policy s purpose as well as main target population, and to stop no-fee policy in order to better invest in staff side before it is too late which is surely expected to boost up the service quality.

How long is the queuing for public childcare facilities in Korea? An empirical analysis of Korean households' childcare mode choice with the limited availability of public childcare facilities

AbstractThis paper empirically investigates Korean households' choice of childcare mode using the Korean Childcare Users Survey (2012). A multivariate logit model with partial observability (hereafter, PO‐logit model) is employed to address the issue of Korean households' demand for public childcare facilities exceeding capacity limits. Our estimation result rejects the hypothesis of no queueing at conventional significance levels to advocate use of the PO‐logit model in explaining Korean households' childcare choices. We decompose choice probabilities of public childcare facilities to estimate the size of queuing. Our results imply that 31.8% of parents preferring public childcare facility are forced to choose other childcare modes due to capacity limit.

어린이집 보조인력의 노동실태 및 요구분석 : 보조교사, 대체교사, 부담임 교사를 중심으로

어린이집 보조인력의 노동실태 및 요구분석 : 보조교사, 대체교사, 부담임 교사를 중심으로

2015학년도 어린이집 월별 정원충족률 변화 분석을 통한 월별 통계자료 제공 필요성 논의

본 연구에서는 공공데이터인 보육통합정보시스템의 자료를 활용하여 2015학년도에 지속적으로 운영된 어린이집 39,775개소(합동 관측사례 477,300개)의 월별 정원충족률 변화를 이원오차성분(혼합)모형으로 분석하였다. 분석 결과, 정원충족률은 2015년 3월 71.8%에서 2016년 1월 84.4%까지 꾸준히 상승하다가, 2016학년도를 앞둔 2016년 2월(50.3%)에만 일시적으로 급락하였다. 2015학년도 내에서도 3월과 이듬해 1월의 정원충족률은 12.5%p까지 차이가 났고, 1월과 2월의 정원충족률 차이는 32.2%p까지 벌어지는 것이다. 이는 각 년도 12월 말의 단일 시점에서의 어린이집 이용 현황만으로 작성되는 보건복지부 보육통계가 향후 월별 통계로 변경될 필요가 있다는 점을 시사한다. 또한, 어린이집 이용정도에 관한 월별 통계자료는 보육통합정보시스템의 공공데이터를 활용하여 구축 및 제공될 수 있을 것이다. Enrollment rate of childcare centers is an important indicator that regulates supply and demand of childcare services in South Korea, but monthly enrollment rate difference of childcare centers has not been studied. This study examines monthly enrollment rate difference from March 2015 to February 2016. Data for this study is drawn from the Korean Childcare Centers database and includes information about 39,775 childcare centers. Enrollment rate had increased steadily from 71.8% in March 2015 to 84.4% in January 2016, whereas it decreased by 50.3% in February 2016. The result showed that enrollment rate difference between March 2015 and January 2016 is about 13%p, and even those of between January and February 2016 is 32%p. Taken together, these findings suggest that the supply and demand of childcare services need to be regulated based on monthly enrollment information.

Childcare Teachers' Attitudes toward the Integration of Care and Education in Korea

THIS STUDY EXPLORES KOREAN childcare teachers' attitudes toward the integration of care and education and the primary issues related to such integration. Ninety-three childcare teachers (91 females and two males) residing in the Seoul metropolitan areas of South Korea participated in this study. Most teachers in this study believed that combining care and education would enhance the professionalisation of the early care and education field and enable better services for children. The teachers expected the following fundamental elements from the integration: heightened criteria for teacher certifications; better work conditions for teachers; age-specific standardised curricula; and improvements to the quality of facilities because of consolidated administration and management. However, the teachers were concerned with possible challenges in the childcare field after integration and its impact on childcare teachers' job opportunities. The teachers' perspectives voiced in this study offer timely data that may facilitate the development of specific guidelines and directives for the integration of care and education. Implications from this study may also contribute valuable information to other countries experiencing similar challenges in combining early education and care.

Crisis Phenomena and the Problems of Disaster Management in Korean Child Care

This study aims to present a view of the Korean child care crisis problems and disaster management. This study diagnosed and analyzed serious risk factors on disaster and safety and provided prospects for future development in this area. Problems and issues of safety-disaster management in Korean child care are 1) discrepancy between policies and fields, 2) problems in laws, 3) problems in administrative management systems, 4) problems in safety educations, and 5) child abuse and SIDS. Further suggestions to overcome these problems are to improve treatment of nursing teachers, amendment of related laws on safety, and development of more applicable and concrete manuals for disaster management.

The Promise of Indirect Responsive Regulation: A Case of Childcare Regulation in South Korea

This paper attempts to elaborate strategies of indirect reciprocity a regulator can harness when repeated direct encounters between regulator and regulatee are practically difficult. Through repeated contacts, the regulator can build up a relationship in which (non-)compliance of the regulatee is reciprocated by the regulator’s equivalent move. But the practical difficulty caused mainly by the lack of regulatory resources constrains on the application of responsive regulation. As a response, this paper proposes alternative regulatory arrangements in which indirect reciprocity is harnessed by a poorly resourced regulator as an effective strategy. Three tasks are tackled. First, it discusses the idea of institutional responsiveness with a focus on the works of Philip Selznick. Then it introduces the literature of indirect reciprocity and shows that this seemingly exogenous concept is in operation in many regulatory spaces. Childcare regulation in South Korea is explored as a site in which indirect reciprocity can offer alternatives to deal with difficulties Korean childcare regulators face. Strategies of indirect reciprocity are proposed as a way of reconfiguring the regulatory system that enhances regulatory efficiency and restores children’s rights abused by private power.

어린이집 평가인증제의 현안 및 발전방안

The purpose of this study was to investigate the status, issues and improvement of Korean Childcare Accreditation and to suggest some developmental directions of Korean Childcare Accreditation. For this purpose, we examined Korean and accreditation systems abroad and the previous research related to the accreditation. Finally, we presented some problems about Korean Childcare Accreditation and alternative ways to solve them. In other words, to achieve a true purpose of accreditation, we have to convert a philosophical paradigm and childcare staffs have to be the subject of accreditation. In addition, we need to hold various viewpoints, indicators, and evaluation methods to recognize discrimination and multiplicity of individual childcare centers. And we have to hold cooperative relationships among childcare centers, parents, community, and government.

우리나라의 보육정책

우리나라는 1921년 태화기독교 여성관 탁아프로그램으로 보육이 시작된 이후 1991년 영유아보육법이 제정되는 등 질적인 보육을 제공할 수 있는 정책적 기반이 꾸준히 발전해왔다. 약 90년 정도 된 보육의 역사에서 보육정책을 담당하는 부처는 시대에 따라, 그리고 관련 법의 규정에 따라 보건사회부, 농업진흥청, 내무부, 문교부, 노동부 등 여러 부처로 분산되어 왔으나, 1991년 제정된 영유아보육법에 의해 보건복지부로 일원화되었고 2004년에는 여성가족부로, 2007년에는 다시 보건복지부로 이관되었다. 우리나라의 보육정책은 1991년 제정된 영유아보육법을 기점으로 교육부 관할의 유치원과 보건복지부 관할의 어린이집의 이원체제로 운영되어 왔다. 최근 출산율의 급속한 저하로 인해 출산율 회복을 위한 정책 개발과 보육의 질적 향상을 도모할 수 있는 방안에 대한 필요성에 의해 다양한 보육정책이 시행되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 우리나라 현재 보육정책의 주요 특징과 앞으로 다가올 시대를 위해 보육정책이 나아가야 할 방향과 과제에 대해 논의하였다. As a childcare program of TaeHwa Christian Women's Institution in 1921, the childcare system in Korea was incepted. Since then, the political foothold of childcare system has steadily been advancing to provide high quality services to young children. In almost a hundred-year-history of public childcare in Korea, depending on the changes enforced on the related laws and regulations and varying perspectives over time, the administration office accountable for childcare policies has been authorized to the Ministries of Health, Social Affairs, Education, Labor, Home Affairs, Rural Development Administration, and/or others. But as of 1991, under the enactment of Infant and Child Care Act, it was changed to be administered by the unified authority of the Health and Social Welfare Ministry. Then, in 2004 and 2007, its statutory authority, respectively, transferred to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and back to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. Staring of the Infant and Child Care Act in 1991, Korean childcare policies have been managed by the dual systems of the Education Ministry and the Health and Social Welfare Ministry each holding jurisdiction over kindergartens and childcare centers, respectively. Faced with the recent marked decline of birth rate, diverse childcare policies are currently implemented in the pursuit of finding means to enhance the quality of childcare and to develop policies for the restoration of the low birth rate. This study presented distinct features of current childcare policies and discussed about future directions and challenges of these policies.

Measuring Quality of Curriculum Implementation and Teaching in Childcare Centers Using Accreditation Standards in South Korea

The present study develops and introduces the Korean Childcare Curriculum Implementation Inventory (K-CCII), a self-report inventory for childcare teachers that focuses on curriculum implementation and teaching, based on accreditation standards for childcare centers in South Korea. Twenty-five criteria about curriculum and teaching were derived from the accreditation standards and employed as items in the K-CCII. A total of 196 teachers evaluated their classroom practices using the K-CCII. Through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, acceptability and fitness of two separate versions of the K-CCII (the five-factor model and the four-factor model) were explored. The factor analysis results indicated that both models of the K-CCII were moderately acceptable. Sensitivity of the K-CCII was examined through associations with teacher and classroom characteristics. Teachers’ educational levels were positively associated with the K-CCII factors related to curriculum implementation and planning, and child-teacher ratios were negatively associated with the factor regarding daily routines. The overall factor scores of the K-CCII rated by teachers in non-profit centers were significantly higher than those in for-profit centers.

Korean child care teachers' gendered conceptualization of child care work

Korean child care teachers' gendered conceptualization of child care work