By Lee Hae-rin
A bill proposing bringing in foreign childcare workers and exempting them from the minimum wage payment system as a way of tackling the country's plummeting birth rate is facing a backlash for its alleged discriminatory stance against foreigners.
Rep. Cho Jung-hun of the minor opposition Transition Korea has proposed an amendment to the Act on the Employment Improvement of Domestic Workers.
"Korea is going through its worst birth rate crisis," the lawmaker said, "And we need a realistic solution for young people."
According to Statistics Korea, the country's birth rate has been on a steep decline since the 1970s ― 4.53 to 1.48 in 2000. The figure has continued to plummet to 0.78 in 2022. Korea ranks at the bottom among 38 OECD countries and its figure is lower than half of the OECD's average, which stands at 1.59, despite the government spending 2.8 trillion won ($2.1 billion) to fight the low birth rate over the past 16 years.
Cho believes the amendment will provide an affordable childcare solution to young married couples, which will cost around one million per month. He added that neighboring developed countries such as Singapore have already adopted a similar system ― since 1978 ― which supports women's economic activities.
The latest minimum wage announced by the Ministry of Labor and Employment is 9,620 won ($7.52) per hour, which is equivalent to a monthly salary of over two million won under the national 40-hour workweek standard.
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