Busan is good

Busan, a City Where It’s Good to Raise Children, to Implement Full Free Childcare for Ages 3–5 in 2026

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) and the Busan Metropolitan Council (Chairman Ahn Seong-min) announced plans to significantly expand overall childcare support beginning in 2026, including the full-scale increase of essential childcare expenses for children aged 3–5 and meal/snack expenses for those aged 0–2, in order to ease parents’ financial burden and enhance the quality of childcare in Busan.

In cooperation with the City Council and the Welfare and Environment Committee (Chairman Yoon Tae-han), the City aims to secure budgetary and institutional foundations to achieve the realization of “Busan-style full free childcare” for children aged 3–5 starting in 2026.

At 1:30 p.m. today (Nov. 10), Busan Metropolitan City held the “Declaration Ceremony for Full Free Childcare for Ages 3–5 in 2026” at the City Hall’s Deullaknalak Hall, announcing the new childcare support policy. The ceremony was attended by Mayor Park Heong-joon, Chairman Ahn Seong-min, and childcare-related organization representatives.

First, under the flagship policy project “Like You, Loved and Cherished,” the City will expand the “Childcare Essential Expense Support Program” by providing an additional 40,000 won per month for children aged 3–5, thereby realizing practical free childcare.

Since July 2024, Busan has been implementing this program as one of the major projects under its childcare policy brand “Like You, Loved and Cherished.”

Essential childcare expenses refer to out-of-pocket costs previously borne by parents, such as special activity fees, field trip fees, event participation fees, and fees for specialized programs, in addition to the fully funded childcare fees provided by the government.

In July 2024, the City began supporting special activity fees (80,000 won per month) and field trip fees (17,000 won per month) for children aged 3–5. In January 2025, the coverage for field trip fees was expanded to include two-year-olds, and in July 2025, an additional 10,000 won per month was provided for parental event participation fees for five-year-olds. Due to the high satisfaction of parents, the City has continued to expand the coverage and amount of support for this program.

Next year (2026), the City plans to expand the 10,000-won parental event participation fee to include children aged 3–4 and newly provide 30,000 won per month for specialized program expenses to all children aged 3–5.

Specialized program expenses refer to costs for teaching materials and equipment required when providing educational activities not included in standard childcare programs. The inclusion of this support is expected to enhance the variety of teaching tools and significantly improve the quality of childcare services at daycare centers in Busan.

Additionally, the City will raise the meal/snack support for infants aged 0–2—previously lower than that for children aged 3–5—by 4,000 won per month (from 8,000 won to 12,000 won).

Currently, the government’s meal/snack support is 400 won per day (8,000 won per month) for infants aged 0–2 and 1,040 won per day (20,800 won per month) for children aged 3–5, showing a large gap between the two groups. Beginning next year, Busan will increase the support for infants aged 0–2 to 600 won per day (12,000 won per month)—a 50% increase—to reduce this disparity.

Since infants aged 0–2 account for approximately 70.9% of children enrolled in daycare centers, the improved support is expected to greatly enhance the nutritional quality of meals served in daycare facilities across the city.

Moreover, the City will independently provide monthly childcare fee support of 100,000 won for foreign-national children aged 3–5, who are currently excluded from the government’s childcare subsidy system. This measure aims to alleviate childcare burdens on foreign families and improve the settlement environment for foreign residents in Busan.

Under current national policy, childcare subsidies are limited to children of Korean nationality, forcing foreign parents to pay between 280,000 won and 567,000 won per month in childcare fees out of pocket.

To realize its vision of becoming a “Global Hub City of Vitality with Foreign Residents,” Busan will allocate a new budget next year (2026) to provide monthly support of 100,000 won for foreign-national children aged 3–5, ensuring equal access to childcare services regardless of nationality.

This initiative is expected to ease the financial strain on foreign parents with children attending daycare centers. The City also plans to continue expanding both the eligibility criteria and support amount to make Busan a more inclusive and livable city for foreign residents.

Furthermore, to reduce parents’ childcare burdens, Busan will expand its “Busan 365 Open Hour Daycare Centers” and “Part-Time Childcare Centers,” as well as increase the number of “Joint Workplace Daycare Centers” by two next year to better support work-life balance for dual-income families.

The “Busan 365 Open Hour Daycare Centers,” where parents can leave their children safely at any time, including nights, weekends, and holidays, will increase from 10 locations in 2025 to 13 in 2026. The City will also add 10 more part-time daycare classes next year to strengthen customized childcare services. In addition, two new “Joint Workplace Daycare Centers” will open in March 2026, bringing the total to seven.

These expanded and newly established childcare initiatives for 2026 were decided to reduce parents’ financial burdens, address operational difficulties at daycare centers caused by declining birthrates and rising costs, and create a higher-quality childcare environment.

Chairman Ahn Seong-min of the Busan Metropolitan Council remarked, “It is critically important that public care facilities provide childcare and education at a level equal to that of parents themselves. Addressing the low birthrate issue must start here. I hope this policy will provide meaningful support to parents and childcare workers and help our young children—the future of our city—grow in a better environment.”

Mayor Park Heong-joon added, “Last year, Busan’s total fertility rate rebounded for the first time in nine years, and in June, the city recorded the highest birthrate growth among all metropolitan governments in Korea, alongside a steady increase in the number of marriages.

Building on this positive trend, Busan has closely cooperated with the City Council, carefully listening to parents and childcare professionals while thoroughly reviewing fiscal conditions to implement full free childcare for children aged 3–5.”

He continued, “We will move beyond childcare alone and develop Busan into an integrated city for childrearing, where every stage of raising a child—from education to employment and housing—is connected. We will do our utmost to make Busan a city filled with children’s laughter and a place where people want to live again.”