President Lee vows increased support for working moms, children

SEOUL, July 16 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak promised Thursday to increase
the government's support for working mothers and their children, noting the lack
of enough government support and child care centers is blamed for keeping the
country's birthrate low.
"President Lee stressed the need to improve conditions for working mothers to
raise their children and to provide financial support for households with working
parents in the sense that better child support is one of key issues that could
bring up the birthrate and support economic activities by women," the
presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, said in a press release.
The president's call came in a town meeting with some 40 parents of children at a
child care center in the Gwanak district of southern Seoul.
One of the major problems facing the country and its working parents is the lack
of quality, safe child care centers, which in many cases forces working mothers
to quit their jobs or simply not have a child, Lee noted.
The government began providing the full amount of child care expenses to people
in the lower half of the income bracket this month, but the president said the
more serious problem is the lack of "facilities where parents can easily and
safely leave their children at until late."
South Korea's birthrate remains one of the lowest in the world at 1.13, while
various studies suggest that its population will start shrinking from 2018.
bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)