Public-center waits reach 10.6 months as day care center numbers continue to fall
As of June, parents of toddlers wait 8.5 months on average before their children are accepted to a day care, Ministry of Education data showed Tuesday.
“We need to analyze actual demand by age group and region and develop practical measures to shorten waiting times, particularly for children aged 0 to 2,” Rep. Seo Beom-soo of the People Power Party said.
The wait for parents seeking places for 18-month-olds is up from 5.8 months in 2022, according to data Seo obtained from the Education Ministry. At public day care centers, the average wait for 18-month-olds was longer, at 10.6 months, compared with 7.9 months in 2022.
Six-month-olds waited an average of 6.2 months, while 30-month-olds waited eight months, up from 5.8 months in 2022. Across all age groups, the average wait was 7.5 months, compared with 5.3 months in 2022.
The waiting period was measured from the date of application to confirmation of admission. The report said delays for children aged 0 to 2 could complicate parents’ plans to return to work after parental leave.
Day care center closures continue
A total of 11,093 day care centers closed between 2022 and the first half of 2026, according to Seo’s report. The figure includes 3,041 closures in 2022, 2,679 in 2023, 2,240 in 2024, 1,939 in 2025 and 1,194 in the first half of this year.
Gyeonggi Province recorded the most closures, at 3,234, followed by Seoul with 1,502.
The number of day care centers nationwide has declined for 12 consecutive years, falling from a peak of 43,770 in 2013 to 26,064 in 2025, according to the Korean Statistical Information Service. The total stood at 28,954 in 2023 and 27,387 in 2024.
Among the centers that closed since 2022, 43.9 percent cited a decline in the number of children and 31.3 percent cited financial difficulties, Seo’s report showed. Home-based and privately run centers accounted for 92.2 percent of the closures.
KOSIS data also showed that the number of public day care centers rose between 2023 and 2025, while the number of privately run centers fell.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com