Philippine Aunt' with a monthly salary of 2 million won is coming... The government and Seoul city's 'unconventional experiment'
Korea Economic Daily 2023-05-08
Ministry of Employment and Labor introduces 'foreign domestic helpers' in Seoul from this fall
Start with 100 people
Receive applications from foreigners such as Southeast Asian countries
Connecting Hopeful Families in Seoul
Visitors who visited the '2023 COEX Kobe Baby Fair' held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 27th of last month are looking at baby car seats. news 1
The government and the city of Seoul are promoting the introduction of non-Chinese foreign domestic helpers (housekeepers) around this fall. The purpose is to relieve the burden of childcare on each family and solve the low birth rate problem. Previously, Rep. Cho Jeong-hoon of the era transition proposed a bill to introduce a housekeeper system that “does not apply the minimum wage,” drawing backlash from public opinion. The government and the city of Seoul are planning to arrange helpers in a way that abides by the minimum wage.
○Start with 100 people in the second half
According to government officials such as the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Seoul Metropolitan Government on the 8th, both sides are considering adding “housework workers” to the E-9 visa, which allows temporary employment for non-professional workers in the construction and agriculture industries. Based on this, starting this fall, we plan to recruit applicants to work in Korea from Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, and connect them to families in Seoul. E-9 visa holders must work only at designated workplaces. After working for 1-2 years, the working period can be extended by renewing the visa.
The starting scale is not large. It is a plan to try to run a test run with about 100 people and increase the number of people if there are no problems. In the case of the occupancy type, the size and conditions of the independent space where each family can reside are different, so it is difficult to control, so the city plans to start with commuting. An official from the Seoul Metropolitan Government said, “It has not been finalized yet, but it is under review.” A plan to subsidize some of the transportation costs to and from work is also being discussed.
○Controversy over not applying the minimum wage
Previously, Congressman Cho's proposal was controversial because he said he would not apply the minimum wage. The headwind of institutionalizing discrimination was strong. The Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Seoul Metropolitan Government believe that there will be no problem with the introduction of foreign workers who abide by the minimum wage. This year's minimum wage (9,620 won per hour) is about 1.7 million won per month if you work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Due to the nature of dual-income families, if some nighttime or weekend work is added and various allowances are included, the actual amount paid to the worker is expected to be around 2 million won per month.
It is different from Hong Kong or Singapore’s “700,000-1,000,000 won per month” helper system, but it is up to 30% cheaper than the market price of commuting babysitters, which are currently between 10,000 and 15,000 won per hour. It is also an advantage that relatively young workers can be recruited compared to workers in the current market, which is centered on middle-aged women. On the other hand, unlike Chinese compatriots, communication may not be smooth and cultural differences must be overcome.
○ 'My aunt's salary' is above the average wage
In double-income families where it is difficult to get help from grandparents, there are increasing cases of hiring so-called “(baby)sitter aunts” to help with childcare and housework. However, their wages are rising steeply as supply is less than demand. According to helper job sites such as ‘Citanet’ and ‘Dandy Helper’, if you hire a Chinese Korean as a move-in type to take care of two preschool children, you have to pay a mid- to late-2000 won monthly salary. If you hire a Korean, the cost soars to the early to mid-3 million won range. It significantly exceeds the average nominal wage of Korean women (2.47 million won per month, 2021 statistics from the Ministry of Employment and Labor).
If you leave Seoul and some areas in Gyeonggi-do, the supply of 'Auntie' itself sharply decreases. A female civil servant who is preparing to return to work after taking parental leave in Sejong recently said, “Seoul has a large number of Koreans from China, so it is possible to find helpers to move in, but there is no supply in Sejong at all.” I am worried about finding it.”
It is known that the government believes that “blood transfusion” of foreign workers is inevitable in order to alleviate the problem of women’s career interruption and respond to the low birth rate and aging population. The will of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is clear. This is the background for both sides to conduct a pilot project in Seoul. Mayor Oh recently posted on Facebook that he strongly supports the introduction of foreign child care assistants, saying, “We need to make the system more compact so that you can take care of children while working.”
○ Possibility of expansion to caregivers
If the employment of foreign workers expands in the field of childcare helpers, a similar system can spread to areas where labor supply is in short supply, such as caregivers. However, in this case, it is a burden on the government that conflicts may arise with the holders of the Visiting Work Visa (H-2) and Overseas Korean Visa (F-4) visas, which were previously leading the market. As of the end of March, there were about 37,000 Korean-Chinese women (52,000 men) holding H-2 visas, and 172,000 (187,000 men) F-4 visa holders. They often take on difficult and demanding jobs that Koreans are reluctant to do.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor has maintained its policy of prioritizing the use of Chinese Koreans with H-2 visas, but the introduction of E-9 domestic workers changes this trend. An official from the Ministry of Employment and Labor said, "At the end of December last year, when we announced the plan to reorganize the employment permit system, we announced that we would operate the foreign workforce (employment) flexibly." said.
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