On Friday, South Korea accepted a plan by the city of Seoul to allow 100 foreign domestic workers into the country as part of a pilot programme designed to increase birth rates by assisting more women to enter the job.
The problem arises from a combination of South Korea’s ageing population, drastically dropping birth rate, and historical resistance to welcoming additional immigrants.
“Immigrant housemaids could revitalise our society. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon stated in a Facebook post last week that it may especially help with career breaks right away.
Due to the expensive cost of having children, many Korean women feel under pressure to stay at home and raise their kids or decide not to have any children at all. Meanwhile, the labour ministry reported that fewer and fewer young Koreans are interested in domestic labour.
According to officials, South Korea is in discussions with the Philippines, one potential supply of labour, with the intention of launching the trial programme as early as December.
Only a select group of foreigners, such as spouses of Korean citizens and members of the Korean ethnic group, are currently permitted to work as home workers.
The cost of a full-time domestic helper living with a host family is now estimated by the government to range from 3.5 million won ($2,600) to 4.5 million won a month.
The country also has some of the lowest rates of foreign immigration relative to its population in the OECD.
Officials stated that the foreign workers would be given the same 9,620 won minimum pay as Koreans in response to concerns that the government is importing cheap labour amid the already subpar conditions for household labourers.
Oh stated that there is no universal cure for the low birth rate. The idea is to leave all options open as we deal with the problem of our nation’s impending demise.
Numerous community organisations encouraged the administration to abandon the proposal and instead concentrate on shortening the nation’s lengthy workweeks.
Parents should not outsource rearing their children; instead, they should spend more time with them, according to Park Min-ah, co-founder of the civic organisation Politicalmamas.
