Child-Rearing in Diverse Families and Policy Implications

Abstract

This study attempts to understand the child-rearing environment and needs of families including infants and toddlers and to propose a development plan for the child rearing family policy. In particular, the current study examines the main caregiver, cost of children, and parenting time, and identifies needs for the families. The biggest condition for classifying family types is the number of caregivers. A family of one caregiver and a family of two caregivers were examined separately, and in them, the characteristics of the caregiver's economic activity, child age, and income level were used to identify characteristics. The results of this study show that there are some similarities in families raising preschoolers. However, there are very large differences in parenting characteristics according to the number of caregivers and economic activities of the caregivers. Based on the results, the necessity to expand care institutions that can be trusted and entrusted to infancy in the care-related area and a plan to expand autonomy in choosing a care method for infants and young children were proposed. Regarding the cost of childcare, it was found that the gap in the cost of childcare for infants was large, and accordingly, it was emphasized that efforts to bridge the gap in childcare spending were necessary. In addition, there is a need to improve support systems by reviewing the current economic support method of single caregivers and the level of supports reflects the reality. Regarding child-rearing time, we discuss compensation for time support for a single caregiver family and also introduce twice the period of parental leave for single-parent families in Finland, which was applied from 2021. Furthermore, the study emphasized the prevention of gaps and expansion of flexibility so that parental leave would not become a system for certain classes. Discussions were made regarding the large differences between men and women in the use of time for children. It concludes by proposing an integrated parenting support policy that carefully reflects the diversity of families raising children in Korea.