By Jun Ji-hye
Working parents, who send their children to daycare centers or kindergartens before beginning their work day, have met problems as an increasing number of childcare institutes have been closed amid public fears over the spread of the new coronavirus.
Working couples have also appeared to become reluctant to hire babysitters due to concerns over human-to-human transmission of the virus that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
Some couples said they had to temporarily leave their children with their parents as a last resort.
According to the Ministry of Education, some 500 kindergartens nationwide have been shut down as of Friday, while more than 3,000 daycare centers have been closed following orders from local government heads in areas affected by the virus.
As the number of confirmed coronavirus patients continues to increase here, more kindergartens and daycare centers are likely to be shut down in the following days.
A 32-year-old working mother who lives in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, said she and her husband have had to take turns using their annual leave to take care of their three-year-old son after the daycare center he attends was recently closed.
The shutdown came as coronavirus patients confirmed by the government included residents of Suwon.
“It was inevitable for both my husband and I to take our annual leave, but at the same time, we felt like we have been a bother to our colleagues,” she said. “So, we decided to send our son to my parents living in Busan until the daycare center is reopened.”
Another working mother submitted a petition to the presidential office website, Feb. 4, calling on the government to come up with proper measures to help dual income families.
“Working couples have to take a vacation to take care of their children at home, but this is quite difficult in reality,” she said in the petition. “The government should order the local governments, public offices and companies to allow working parents to take care of their children at home temporarily.”
