Child care fees for 0–5 years old
Support target
- Child care fees for children aged 0 to 2
· Children using child care centers (class of ages 0 to 2) who have Korean nationality and resident registration number can receive child care fee subsidies (Ministry of Education, page 298 of 「2025 Guidelines for Child Care Project」).
※ Child care fees for basic child care shall be provided, and additional child care fees per hour shall be provided for infants and young children in need of additional care when using extended child care (Provided, That this shall be limited to cases where the necessity of extended child care services is determined by examining the grounds for applying for extended child care.
- Child care fees for children aged 3 to 5 (Nuri common education program)
· Children (3-5 years old class) who use a child care center with Korean nationality and social security number can receive child care fees (Page 298 of 「2025 Guidelines for Child Care Project」).
※ The base date for calculating the age of child care support in 2025 is as follows (Page 299 of 「2025 Guidelines for Child Care Project」).
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Age
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Base date
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Age 0
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Born after Jan. 1, 2024
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Age 1
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Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2023
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Age 2
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Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2022
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Age 3
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Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2021
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Age 4
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Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2020
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Age 5
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Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2019 (In cases of pre-school children, Jan 1 – Dec. 31, 2018)
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School children (After school child care fee)
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Jan. 1, 2018 – Dec. 31, 2012
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Support amount
- The child care fee per child is as follows (Page 299 of 「2025 Guidelines for Child Care Project」).
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Age
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Support amount
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Basic care
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Nighttime
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24 hr
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Age 0 (Jan. 1. 2025~)
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540,000
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540,000
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810,000
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Age 1 (Jan. 1. 2025~)
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475,000
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475,000
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712,000
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Age 2 (Jan. 1. 2025~)
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394,000
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394,000
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591,000
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Age 3~5 (Jan. 1. 2025~Feb. 29. 2025)
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280,000
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280,000
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420,000
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Age 3~5 (Mar. 1. 2025~)
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280,000
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280,000
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420,000
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Extended child care fees
Support target
- Child care centers that that provide extended child care after 5 PM are eligible for extended child care fee subsidies (page 356 of 「2025 Guidelines for Child Care Project」).
- All of the following must be met as a requirement to support the extended child care fees.
· Installation and operation of a device that automatically checks infants’ arrival and departure hours (electronic attendance system)
· Must not be a child care center suspended for violations of laws and guidelines
- Guardians of infants and young children who wish to use extended child care must consult with the child care center in advance to determine whether to attend child care center and apply for extended care (Page 284 of 「2025 Guidelines for Child Care Project」).
※ If an application for extended child care is submitted to the child care center after establishing eligibility therefor, the child care center must register and classify the relevant infant or young child into an extended child care class.
Support amount
- The amount per hour is provided to child care centers that operate extended child care according to the use hours of children using extended child care (Page 356 of 「2025 Guidelines for Child Care Project」).
※ Support is available for children not having applied for extended child care when they intermittently use the service based on flexible care capacity after 17:00
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Category (teacher to infant ratio)
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1:3 (Age 0 class)
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1:5 (Infant class)
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1:15 (Toddler class)
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Children with disabilities
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Support amount
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3,000
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2,000
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1,000
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3,000
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※ Children not in extended care classes will be provided assistance according to child care age for regular classes (Age 0 & children with disabilities: KRW 3,000, age 1-2: KRW 2,000, age 3-5: KRW 1,000)
Child care fee for children with disabilities
Support target
- Although child care fee support for children with disabilities, in principle, is provided for preschoolers with disabilities aged 12 and under who have disability welfare cards (registration certificates), child care fee support for children with disabilities is exceptionally provided in the following cases (Article 34(2) of the Child Care Act and page 307 of 「2025 Guidelines for Child Care Project」)
· Infants aged 3 to 5 who have been selected as persons eligible for special education under Article 15 of the Act on Special Education for Persons with Disabilities, Etc. have submitted disability diagnostic reports
· Where infants who have turned the school age cannot attend a general elementary school or a special school because of any inevitable reason such as disease, etc.
· Infants and young children aged 5 and under who do not have disability welfare cards or disability diagnostic reports submit disability certificates issued by physicians.
※ Child care fees can be provided even if children with disabilities, during their enrollment, inevitably postpone their obligation to receive an education. In this case, holders of welfare cards for persons with disabilities can be supported from 6 to 12 years old, and if they submit a notice of the results of diagnosis and evaluation of those subject to special education, they can be supported from 6 to 8 years old (p. 307, 「2025 Guidelines for Child Care Project」).
※ Where children with disabilities are already enrolled in a government-funded special school (kindergarten or elementary school curriculum), they are not eligible for the free education assistance for children with disabilities, but elementary school children are eligible for after school child care fees for children with disabilities (p. 307, 「2025 Guidelines for Child Care Project」).
Support amount
- Care fees for children with disabilities are subsidized as follows (page 310 of 「2025 Guidelines for Child Care Project」).
· Where the teacher-to-student ratio of a child care center is 1:3 and the center deploys dedicated instructors (such as special education teachers, child care teachers for young children with disabilities, and instructors exclusively in charge of children with disabilities): KRW 587,000
· Where the teacher-to-student ratio of a child care center is not 1:3 and the center does not deploy dedicated instructors: the upper limit of child care fee per class (government-subsidized price for classes of ages under 2, and the amount limit set by the Mayor/Do Governor for classes of ages 3 and older)
Child care fees for multicultural families
Support target and support amount
- In principle, if preschool children aged 0 to 5 who are members of multicultural families pursuant to Article 2 (1) of the Multicultural Families Support Act are enrolled in a child care center, they can get the government support unit cost of the child care fee by age regardless of the household’s income and property level (Article 34 (2) of the Child Care Act and Article 22 (3) of the Enforcement Decree of the Child Care Act and page 311 of 「2025 Guidelines for Child Care Project」).
※ Children born with an ex-wife or ex-husband, not those born between marriage immigrants (including those who have obtained permission for recognition or naturalization) from multicultural families under Subparagraph 1 of Article 2 of the Multicultural Families Support Act and those who have acquired Korean nationality pursuant to Articles 2 through 4 of the Nationality Act can receive support if they share the same livelihood as a multicultural family member. However, only children of Korean nationality are supported.
※ Where a preschool child delayed entering school, he/she may be refunded with child care fees of 5 years of age. However, child care fees for 5 years of age because of postponement of entering school shall be provided only once, and in this case, the support period for the Nuri common education course shall not exceed 3 years in total.
Other child care fee
After school child care fee
- Support target
· If children under the second-lowest income bracket and children with disabilities are eligible for after-school child care fee subsidies (page 313 of 「2025 Guidelines for Child Care Project」).
※ The hours of use of after school child care centers are calculated only from the time the child arrives at the child care center to the time to go home, and the using hours of shuttle buses provided by the child care center are not included.
- Support amount
· Children who attend an after-school child care center are eligible for child care allowances as below (pp. 313-314, 「2025 Guidelines for Child Care Project」).
· The days on which the center is used for less than 4 hours a day shall not be counted towards attendance days.
· The allowances shall be provided by dividing the number of days of attendance into 3 sections, with 100% allowances for 11 or more days of attendance, and no allowances for 0 days of attendance.
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Type
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Support amount
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Ordinary children
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KRW 100,000 per month
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Children with disabilities
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- Where the teacher-student ratio of the child care center is 1:3 and the center deploys additional teachers who have completed after-school education and education programs for children with disabilities, the childcare subsidy the children with disabilities are entitled to: 50% of the child care subsidy for children with disabilities (KRW 293,000) - Where the teacher-student ratio of the child care center is not 1:3 and the center does not deploy additional teachers who have completed after-school education and education programs for children with disabilities: KRW 100,000 per month for the facilities supported by the government, 50% of the limit of the child care subsidy for five-year-old children regulated by the mayors and governors for facilities not supported by the government
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※ For those who use full-day child care during the vacation period, the amount of subsidy calculated according to the relevant formula shall be notified every year.
Nighttime extended child care fees
- The standard hours for nighttime child care are 19:30-24:00 on weekdays and 15:30-24:00 on Saturdays. If infants using daytime child care centers use child care centers from before 7:30, nighttime extended child care fees can be provided, and the limit is 60 hours per month (Page 317-318 of 「2025 Guidelines for Child Care Project」).
※ How to calculate usage hours: Using the electronic attendance system, record the arrival and departure hours on the days of using nighttime extended child care by the hour and the minute, and calculate the nighttime extended child care hours by the hour every day.
- The support amount is as follows (Page 317 of 「2025 Guidelines for Child Care Project」).
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Type
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Support amount
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Limit
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Support ratio
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Ordinary Children
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4,000
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240,000
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Base amount×100%
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Disabled children
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5,000
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300,000
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Base amount×100%
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- Nighttime 12 hr child care fees
· Children who do not use the child care center during the daytime can receive 12 hr a night child care support only if they use the child care center at night (19:30 - 7:30 next day), and the school children cannot receive nighttime child care fees (Page 318 of 「2025 Guidelines for Child Care Project」).
· Child care fees are supported according to the unit price table of child care fees between 0 and 5 years old.
- 24 hr child care fee
· The 24 hr child care fees are provided to children whose parents are engaged in economic activities at night, single parents or grandparents, and those who are deemed to need child care for 12 hr at night (from 7:30 to 7:30 the next day) [Day care (7:30–19:30) and 12 hr child care (19:30–7:30 the next day) (Page 319 of 「2025 Guidelines for Child Care Project」).
· Child care fees are supported according to the unit price table of child care fees between the ages of 0 and 5.
- Holiday (excluding Saturdays) child care fee
· Child care fees for off days (excluding Saturdays; 7:30 AM–7:30 PM on Sundays and public holidays) shall be the amount of “child care fees provided to parents with children aged 0 to 5” multiplied by “the number of days for child care during holidays” and divided by “the number of days available for child care for the month” (on the basis of month) (page 319 of 「2025 Guidelines for Child Care Project」).
※ However, if it is not designated as a holiday child care center, 150% of the child care fee (on the basis of month) is supported.