14 hours ago
Future of foreign nanny program uncertain amid wage concerns
While Filipino caregivers cite general satisfaction with the program, service costs remain a key barrier to broader adoption
The South Korean government on Tuesday cast doubt on whether a program introducing foreign caregivers to Seoul would expand past the pilot, citing unresolved cost issues.
At a roundtable meeting hosted in Seongdong-gu, eastern Seoul, the director of the Ministry of Employment and Labor's Foreign Workforce Division, Han Eun-sook, told the press that it would be 'difficult to expand the foreign caregiver program into a full-fledged program' unless the problems surrounding caregiving costs are resolved.
The pilot program was launched in September 2024 as part of the city government's response to low birth rates and efforts to ease pressure on working parents. It hired trained caregivers from the Philippines to assist with child care and housework in Seoul. According to the city government, 86 Filipino caregivers are employed by 143 households in Seoul, with each worker being assigned to one to two households.
Initially planned to run through February 2025, the pilot program shifted from a government-led model to one that's managed by the private sector from March, and was extended again for another year.
However, the cost of the service — 16,800 won ($12.30) per hour — has emerged as a key barrier to broader adoption.
At four hours per day, five days a week, families would pay a monthly expense of around 1.46 million won per month, including wages, insurance and administrative fees.
Due to its high service costs, the program has been criticised for only being accessible to high-income households. Forty-three percent of the applications made to the city government in August 2024 came from three districts in the capital considered to be the most wealthy: Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu and Songpa-gu in southern Seoul.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government previously requested that foreign domestic workers be exempt from South Korea's minimum wage to reduce household costs, citing Singapore and Hong Kong as examples. In Hong Kong, foreign domestic workers are not covered by the standard statutory minimum wage and in Singapore, no legally mandated minimum wage applies to domestic workers, with their salary instead determined through individual contracts between the employer and worker.
However, the Labor Ministry rejected this proposal, citing the Labor Standards Act and the International Labor Organization's conventions, which prohibit wage discrimination based on nationality.
'Because minimum wage and labor protections apply equally, the program struggles to fulfill its initial goal of easing the burden of costs that come with care services,' explained Han.
Still, Han clarified that foreign caregivers currently working in South Korea can continue to work here for three more years, regardless of whether the pilot program transitions into a permanent one.
Noting that the city government currently provides subsidies for low-income families in need of domestic workers of Korean nationality, the city government's director general of the Women and Family Office, Kim Sun-soon, stated that such subsidies could also be extended to families using similar services provided by foreign domestic workers.
'If these families are also allowed to receive the same kind of support when using the service provided by foreign caregivers, the issue could be resolved,' said Kim.
'The city government sees that there is clearly a strong demand among many families for foreign caregivers, as they are a lot younger and are more active than the Korean domestic workers. We hope to continue discussions with the new administration to carry the program forward.'
Meanwhile, foreign caregivers who attended the roundtable discussion spoke positively about their experiences of living and working in Seoul.
Two such workers, Jasmine Erika and May Ann, cited minor communication difficulties due to their lack of fluency in Korean. However, the two workers also mentioned that most of the families they work with 'can speak English very well,' and that they are putting in efforts of their own to learn Korean during their spare time.
