There Must Be No Discrimination in What Children Eat [Op-Ed]

South Korea’s top priority right now is unquestionably overcoming its low birth rate. In 2023, the country recorded a total fertility rate of 0.72 and was even warned that it would become the first country in the world to disappear as a result of population decline. Thankfully, the rate has been rising, reaching 0.75 in 2024 and 0.80 in 2025, but it remains among the lowest in the world. The government and local governments are rolling out all kinds of policies day after day to raise the birth rate. Yet behind the flashy headlines about spending hundreds of trillions of won lies the bleak reality facing early childhood care and education: the sector is hesitating, unable to resolve even its most basic and urgent issues. At the heart of it is the “dinner table” that infants and young children face every day.
Few people know that the meals children are provided differ depending on the institution they attend and the region where they live. There is a gap in the quality and per-meal cost of food served to children attending kindergartens and those attending childcare centers. Kindergartens are covered by the School Meals Act and have relatively stable meal budgets. By contrast, funding for meals and snacks at childcare centers has been tied to childcare fees for decades, leaving it directly exposed to rising prices. Kindergartens receive around 3,000 won per day for food, depending on the region, as well as separate support for operating and labor costs, while childcare centers receive only around 1,745 won. This gap in meal and snack funding goes beyond a simple difference in amounts; it results in unequal access to the nutrition, health and development rights that infants and young children should enjoy.
That is not all. Additional subsidies vary widely depending on local governments’ fiscal independence. An unreasonable system has become entrenched in which a child’s lunch tray can differ depending on the neighborhood where they live.
The government is pursuing “government-responsible integration of early childhood education and care,” which would bring kindergartens and childcare centers together, as a key national policy priority. But the true starting point for this integration must be creating a “fair food environment” by eliminating disparities in the meals and snacks our children eat every day—not simply unifying facility names or administrative systems. Discussing integration while leaving discrimination at the table untouched would be no more than a house of cards.
To address this, the 2027 national budget must include the full 495 billion won for meals and snacks for all children from birth through age 5 at childcare centers. This is by no means an excessive demand; it is a basic childcare and education expense that the state should rightfully take responsibility for.
The following policy tasks must be carried out urgently to eliminate disparities in meal and snack funding in early childhood care and education.
First, the “childcare center meal and snack” budget item, currently included in childcare fees, must be fully separated into an independent item for “free meals,” as it is for kindergartens. As long as meal and snack funding remains bundled into childcare fees, it is impossible to raise the per-meal amount promptly, even when food ingredient costs soar. Making it a separate budget item would allow for a flexible response to price fluctuations.
Second, the basic per-meal amount for food at childcare centers must be brought up to a realistic level on par with kindergartens. The nutrition provided to infants and young children as they grow should not depend on the type of institution they attend. It is urgent to establish an appropriate level of funding that can guarantee a minimum standard of quality and nutrition.
Third, national meal standards and minimum guidelines must be established by law. To ensure that support for meals for infants and young children is not undermined by local governments’ fiscal circumstances or policy priorities, the central government must take responsibility for establishing legal and institutional standards that guarantee good-quality food above a certain level everywhere in the country.
“There must be no discrimination in what children eat.” This is not merely a slogan, but an irreplaceable principle and guiding philosophy for South Korea’s early childhood care and education policy. Within the first social environment children encounter after birth, there must be no discrimination in what they eat as they grow. Children’s development will not wait for policies to be completed. Our children are growing even at this very moment.
The childcare-center meal and snack funding that must be included in the 2027 budget is not merely an expense; it is the surest and most valuable investment in the healthy growth and fair start of the children who are South Korea’s future. The National Assembly and the government must devote every effort, setting political interests aside, to securing funding for meals and snacks for children ages 0–5 at childcare centers. Removing discrimination from children’s lunch trays will be the true first step toward overcoming the low birth rate.
[email protected] Kim Man-gi Reporter