Reappraisal of the political approach on East Asian welfare state development: the case of childcare expansion in South Korea

Asian Soc Wrk & Pol Rev

2021

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Over several decades, a policy framework focusing on child well-being improvement has emerged as one of the development goals (Bain et al., 2018;Coll-Seck et al., 2019;Hug et al., 2019). Yet, the lack of shared agreement on the child well-being concept and how best to measure it has limited its ability to achieve the expected outcomes (Biggeri & Cuesta, 2021;Street, 2021). Understanding the dynamics of child well-being, however, is crucial to the provision of better social facilities and improving the basic needs of children for effective transition from childhood to adulthood.Scholarly knowledge concerning child well-being was built on Western and developed countries' experience (Bradshaw et al., 2007(Bradshaw et al., , 2013D'Agostino et al., 2019;Idoiaga Mondragon et al., 2021), which has been found to be of little relevance in explaining child well-being in the Southeast Asia context (Cho, 2015). The insufficiency of research pertaining to children has resulted in difficulties to specifically capture the complexity of child welfare and its provisions in the Southeast Asia region. Most countries in this region share salient, distinct features in their approach to well-being. High economic growth has been prioritized, but child well-being was strongly related to "familistic" institutional arrangements or another informal mechanism (Abrahamson, 2017;Tonelli et al., 2021;.In Southeast Asia, compared to advanced welfare state countries, child well-being has been put on the public policy agenda in recent years through the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1995 (United Nations Children's Fund [UNICEF], 2019).After ratifying the convention, Southeast Asian countries have immediately made a number of important commitments to ensure holistic

Section: Inter S Ec Ting Child and Well-b Eing Reg Ime Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Unpacking the complexities of child well‐being in Southeast Asia: Insights for social policy

Rahman¹,

Asian Soc Wrk & Pol Rev

2021

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“…Therefore, global social norms are an additional aspect of this study to ensure the comprehensive explanation of care regime changes in Korea (Deacon, 2007; Kaasch, 2013). The global norm refers to standards of expected policy about how childcare ought to be distributed as attached in the SDGs programme or global social protection floor (GSPF) program, where childcare is the part of social rights (Yuda, 2020).…”

Section: Expanding Childcare Regimementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Interestingly, during the policy consultation process, the Korea Women Development Institute (KWDI) together with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) also proposed the development of universal public childcare that followed the Swedish and Danish pathway (Peng, 2011). Ratification of those various policy inputs eventually gave an essential foundation to the modern care regime development of Korea which reflected the hybridization of the European welfare state prototype in terms of the greater role of state involvement in childcare-related policy and productivist idea which emphasized on the market-conforming role of policy (Yuda, 2020). From this case, “lesson drawing is a significant aspect of the ideational processes through which policy ideas travel from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, with the help of both international organizations and domestic actors, who typically adapt them to local context” (Béland and Powell, 2016, p. 741).…”

Section: The Changes and Progress Of The Korean Care Regimementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The idea of a welfare state increasingly gained support from the Korean society in 2005 when the total fertility rate in the country had reached 1.08, one of the lowest in the world (Lee and Kim, 2017). In response to this situation, the sub-committee on society met on June 29, 2005 to discuss the need to provide daycare along with the expansion of its coverage for low-income workers and vulnerable groups (Yuda, 2020).…”

Section: The Changes and Progress Of The Korean Care Regimementioning

confidence: 99%

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The evolving Korean childcare regime

2020

IJSSP

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PurposeThe objective of this paper is to understand changes and progress of the Korean childcare regime by examining the evolutional process of childcare initiatives that were developed since the Japanese colonial rule.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed a qualitative-based research design with a particular emphasis on explanatory research. Meanwhile, the data were gathered through the peer-reviewed literature and reports.FindingsThe findings indicate that Korea has had three types of childcare regimes: effective-informal, productivist and inclusive-liberal orientation. It also pinpoints that while the care regime development followed the European regime, the egalitarian society, which is a social prerequisite for modern welfare state-building, has not yet been fully established. This paradoxical situation eventually impedes the development of universal childcare aimed at promoting gender equality and a work-life balance.Originality/valueThis article offers a model and characteristics of the Korean childcare regime dating back to the Japanese colonial period up until the Moon Jae-In administration, where it still receives less attention in most of the social policy literature (see Table 1).

“…They put the spotlight on the social policy through the Confucian lens, examining to what extent Confucianism teaching is conditioned in formal welfare provisions (Cook & Kwon, 2007; Goodman & Peng, 1996; Jones, 1993; Peng & Wong, 2010; Walker & Wong, 2005). It has produced the argument that is too focused on the common idea of East Asian culture (Yuda, 2019, 2020a, 2021) while overlooking the original idea of Singaporean that is more dominated by artificial value promoted by Lee Kuan Yew, a founding father of this country. These values are a hybrid between Confucianism and Western values.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting the Singaporean values to welfare as foundational ideas of Central Provident Fund development

Asian Soc Wrk & Pol Rev

Pratiyudha

Kafaa

2021

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This succinct review returns to the debate on political‐culture and Singaporean social policy nexus that has been abandoned since 2000. They put the spotlight on the social policy through the Confucian lens, examining to what extent Confucianism teaching was conditioned in formal welfare provisions. Yet, they are too focused on the common idea of Confucianism while overlooking the original idea of Singaporean value promoted by Lee Kuan Yew. Hence, this article raises the discussion of the links of Singaporean values and the Central Provident Found (CPF) which have barely been highlighted in the literature. Singaporean values are hybrid between Confucianism and Western values. This article argues that although the CPF has expanded in terms of features and benefits, it has not crossed the line that separates Singapore from Western models. Because of its Singaporean values, the country does not follow the typical European model, which is being adopted by other East Asian countries. This article concludes the CPF not only reflects its centrality to Singaporean values but also as a value stabilizer that has long history in contributing to Singaporean nation‐building.