The Tears Behind the 1:3 Ratio... Government Must Take Responsibility to the End for Improving Teacher-to-Child Ratios in Infant Classes [Op-Ed]

[Financial News] Anyone who has raised a child knows how physically and mentally demanding it is to care for a child just over a year old. Infants only a few months old, who struggle even to roll over on their own, are exposed to danger if left unwatched even briefly. Soothing them constantly to figure out why they are crying, changing their diapers frequently, and keeping to feeding times are repeated dozens of times a day.
The legally mandated teacher-to-child ratio in infant classes at South Korean childcare centers is currently 1:3. This means one teacher must care for up to three infants at the same time. Given that even caring for one child can be so demanding that an entire household is kept rushing around, the 1:3 ratio is a precarious figure barely sustained by the cries of distress from the childcare front lines.
Against this backdrop, the government is pursuing a program this year, in 2026, to improve the teacher-to-child ratio in infant classes from 1:3 to 1:2, and says it will extend the program to classes for one-year-olds next year (2027). In fact, the government is demonstrating its strong policy commitment by allocating 526.9 billion won to improve teacher-to-child ratios in the newly established Future Response Fund for 2027—an increase of 200.7 billion won over this year. This is truly welcome news. When each teacher has fewer children to care for, the quality of physical contact and responsiveness children receive improves dramatically. This not only has a decisive impact on infants’ attachment and development, but also reduces teacher fatigue, making it the surest safeguard against accidents.
The problem, however, is that “good policies are not being properly implemented in childcare settings.” As of the end of September 2026, of the 21,179 childcare centers operating either infant classes or mixed classes for children aged zero to one, only 8,793 had improved the teacher-to-child ratio in their infant classes to 1:2—just 41.5%, less than half. No matter how good a policy is, without adequate funding and staffing, it is bound to become a dead letter in childcare settings.
The reasons are clear. The first is a shortage of operating funds due to declining enrollment. With fewer children enrolled because of low birth rates, reducing the number of children per class as well cuts childcare fee revenue, making it difficult to run a center. For childcare centers that rely on childcare fees to cover class operating costs, it is difficult to participate in a program to lower teacher-to-child ratios when government subsidies do not make up for the loss in fee revenue. The second reason is the cost of hiring additional teachers. To lower the teacher-to-child ratio while keeping enrollment unchanged, centers must hire more teachers. However, at facilities that receive labor-cost support, such as national and public childcare centers, the government covers only 80% of the wages of newly hired teachers, leaving the centers to bear the remaining 20%. This burden could ultimately lead to worsening conditions for teachers or distorted class arrangements. A directive to “reduce the ratio” alone will not move childcare centers to act. This is why the government must reliably cover operating and labor costs in proportion to the reduction in the number of enrolled children.
In his budget address to the National Assembly, President Lee Jae Myung called the 2027 budget “a people’s budget for greater growth, warmer livelihoods, and a stronger Republic of Korea.” Infants and young children, the talent of the future, must be at the heart of the 2027 people’s budget. Now that the effects of low birth rates are becoming a reality, the first priority must be creating an environment where people can confidently entrust their children to care. Improving teacher-to-child ratios in classes for zero- and one-year-olds is a matter of “basic infrastructure for the care and education of infants and young children,” and shows how our society treats the lives and safety of its most vulnerable members.
The government must not leave this issue solely to exemplary cases in some local governments or the voluntary efforts of childcare centers. It must use national funds to support improvements to the legally mandated ratios and cover labor costs, so that all infants and young children in every region can grow up on an equal footing in a “safe and pleasant environment.” The government must take clear responsibility from beginning to end, ensuring that the improvements to teacher-to-child ratios that begin in infant classes are implemented without disruption in every childcare center and extended to one-year-old classes in 2027.

[email protected] Kim Man-gi Reporter