The caption under the image reads: “Filipino workers participating in the foreign housekeeper pilot program are entering through Incheon International Airport last August. Photo by the Airport Press Corps.”
“Out of the 100 foreign housekeepers introduced by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, 89 have extended their activities and will continue to work in Korea. The service price has increased by 20% from the pilot period to 16,800 KRW per hour.”
“In light of the conclusion of the pilot project, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on this day that 89 housekeepers would provide childcare services to 148 households starting from the 4th. The employment period is extended by three years.”
“The foreign housekeeper project, part of ‘Oh Se-hoon’s care project,’ aims to alleviate gaps in care and reduce costs by utilizing foreign workers (E-9 visa) as housekeepers. Although 100 housekeepers trained in the Philippines entered last year, two left the program within two weeks and were repatriated. The remaining nine returned home due to personal reasons, leaving 89 to continue working from March.”
“According to Seoul City, 91.2% or 135 out of the 148 households are those that participated in the previous pilot project and wish to continue using the service. The service has been newly assigned to 13 households (8.8%). Currently, 102 households are on the waiting list for new use.”
“The usage fee will be increased by 20%. The cost will rise from 13,940 KRW during the pilot period to 16,800 KRW per hour, an increase of 2,860 KRW. For a weekly usage of 40 hours (8 hours per day), the monthly fee (excluding paid holiday allowance) will increase from 2,234,000 KRW to 2,688,000 KRW, an approximate increase of 450,000 KRW. However, no additional charge will be applied for caring for two or more children.”
“Meanwhile, a survey by Seoul City on household service usage time revealed that as of March 1, the most common usage was 4 hours a day for 84 households (56.8%). This was followed by 8 hours for 35 households (23.6%), 6 hours for 15 households (10.1%), and 2 hours for 14 households (9.5%).”
“By type, dual-income households (103 households, 69.6%) were the most common users, followed by families with multiple children (29 households, 19.6%), families with one child (10 households, 6.7%), and pregnant women (6 households, 4.1%).”
“By district, Gangnam-gu had the most users (30 households, 20.3%), followed by Seocho-gu (18 households, 12.2%), Seongdong-gu (17 households, 11.5%), Songpa-gu (17 households, 11.5%), and Yongsan-gu (13 households, 8.8%).”
“Kim Seon-soon, head of the Seoul Women’s Family Office, stated, ‘We will carefully manage the foreign housekeeper project so that it can be successfully promoted during the extension period. After March, we will conduct a comprehensive analysis of on-site demand and work closely with the central government to discuss expanding the main project.'”