According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, as of Sept 30, there are 98 Filipino caregivers working in 169 households. - The Korea Herald/ANN
SEOUL: The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Ministry of Employment and Labour stated on Tuesday (Nov 5) that they want to expand the current foreign caregivers pilot programme - now a little over two months in - to include more caregivers from South-East Asian countries other than the Philippines.
Since September, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has been running a six-month foreign caregiver pilot programme with the Labour Ministry, aimed at providing selected households in Seoul with affordable child care in response to few local caregivers willing to do low-wage care work.
According to the city government, there are currently 98 caregivers working in 169 households as of Sept 30.
Before the pilot project began, the city government and the Labour Ministry announced in June their plans to increase the number of foreign caregivers to 1,200 by the first half of 2025. Now, both organisations have said they want to bring in more South-east Asian caregivers besides those from the Philippines.
“Since there is already a plan to expand the overall number of foreign caregivers, we should also consider looking at other caregivers from countries other than the Philippines,” said a Labour Ministry official.
“Though specifics cannot be given, we are looking at several countries that could be potential options.”
During a National Assembly audit of the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Oct 15, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon stated Cambodia as one of the countries. He also argued that the current programme requires “greater diversity and modifications to better align with Korea’s needs”.
However, experts told The Korea Herald that matters which have raised controversy regarding the rights, safety and equitable treatment of the existing caregivers must be addressed first before the program can be expanded to include caregivers from other countries.
“Of course, having more caregivers to provide a service for many households requiring assistance in child care is important, but there are other matters to consider, such as the controversy surrounding their wages, as well as their overall treatment surrounding their well-being,” said researcher Lee Kyu-yong at the Korea Labour Institute.
On Sept 15, two caregivers from the pilot programme disappeared from their accommodations in Seoul, citing “overwork and overwatch”, referring to excessive work and surveillance.
Other remaining caregivers reported to the city government that their wages were “too low” compared to the amount of work they are responsible for, as the government does not provide additional support for their overall living expenses.
The caregivers also said their working conditions did not provide them with breaks to rest or eat properly, especially for those serving more than one household.
“Before expanding the programme, the government must establish clear standards as to how much in wages will be paid to each caregiver, and how the caregivers’ workloads will be distributed among themselves to prevent cases of overwork and to also provide them with the opportunity to rest in between,” added Dr Lee.
Meanwhile, the Labour Ministry and the Seoul city government stated they will decide on the specifics of the foreign caregiver programme - including which countries the programme will expand to and the scope of the caregivers’ work - after the pilot project ends in February 2025, following a review of an evaluation research service on the pilot project which is scheduled for February. - The Korea Herald/ANN
