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‘We don’t have time or interest!’ We prepared this for you who are busy with this life and don’t have time to watch the news. We included 5 questions about news that the news doesn’t tell you and news that you become more curious about the more you look at it. The 5 asks and the reporter answers. ▶▶Subscribe to weekly newsletter Whitley Type ‘Wickley’ in the search bar. Foreign workers who do child care and housework for 2 million won a month will arrive in December. It is still a government pilot project. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon still insists on paying only 1 million won per month. Is it possible to become a domestic worker with a salary of 1 million won per month? Is it okay to make people work if they pay minimum wage? I asked editorial writer Hwang Bo-yeon.
[The 1] Is it okay to bring in foreign domestic workers if the minimum wage is paid? Reporter Hwang Bo-yeon: I think it’s premature. Now they are saying they will bring in 100 people as a pilot. The scale of the main project can increase. Even now, caring jobs are considered bad jobs. However, if low-wage foreign workers come in, the quality of jobs will inevitably decline further due to price competition. Then, the quality of services that citizens receive may also deteriorate.
[The 2] Will the birth rate increase if foreign domestic workers come? Reporter Hwang Bo-yeon: It is unclear whether demand will be high enough to cause meaningful changes in birth rates. Our Chinese compatriots have almost no language problems and share a lot of culture with us. However, there may be a big difference in that respect compared to workers from Southeast Asia. Young couples consider emotional development as important, not just looking after children.
People opposing the pilot project to introduce foreign domestic workers hold signs at a public hearing hosted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 31st of last month. Senior Reporter Kang Chang-gwang chang@hani.co.kr
[The 3] Shouldn’t the government do something? The low birth rate problem is so serious. Reporter Hwang Bo-yeon: There are many other things the government can do right now. There is a public care system called child care service that sends childcare helpers to families. They say that supply cannot keep up with demand, so you have to wait an average of three months. National and public daycare centers are supposed to accommodate half of the child population, but they are only able to accommodate 20%. The wait is long here too. The most important thing is gender equality and work-family balance. Let’s make both mom and dad work overtime and use foreign domestic workers to solve the problem? What happens when you do that is well illustrated by Hong Kong and Singapore, which the government uses as models for this system. Hong Kong’s total fertility rate is 0.75 and Singapore’s is 1.02. It is a country with a globally low birth rate that is comparable to that of our country (0.78).
[The 4] The government decided to pay more than the minimum wage to foreign domestic workers. Nevertheless, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon insists that the minimum wage should not be paid. Reporter Hwang Bo-yeon: The government has no choice but to listen to what the international community thinks. The International Labor Organization (ILO), of which Korea is a member, has the ‘Domestic Labor Convention’. This agreement stipulates that “domestic workers must also receive the minimum wage” and “foreigners are no exception.” Among the member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), there is no country that does not apply a minimum wage system to foreigners. Hong Kong and Singapore are not OECD members. But it looks like Mayor Oh still has no intention of giving up. He said, “If it is not 1 million won per month, it cannot have a satisfactory effect on parents.” He proposes issuing visas to foreign domestic workers that are not subject to the Employment Permit System. Then, if each family hires them, there is no legal problem even if they do not pay the minimum wage. However, if the government continues like this, it is bound to be criticized for ‘playing tricks’.
[The 5] The number of people working is decreasing. Shouldn’t we hire more foreign workers? Reporter Hwang Bo-yeon: The government is already trying to bring in foreign workers to fill nursing care workers and delivery drivers. It’s a job with low wages, long working hours, and dangerous jobs. However, rather than improving the quality of jobs, the government is only thinking of solving the problem by bringing in foreigners at low prices. There are still quite a few Koreans working. Representative examples include women and the elderly. Solving low wages and long working hours comes first. ▶▶[The 5]Read all about the government and ruling party’s attempts to introduce low-wage foreign workers and concerns about human rights violations that were not included in Whiakley. ▶▶Subscribe to weekly newsletter Whitley
Reporter Kim Ji-hoon watchdog@hani.co.kr
2023-09-16 05:00:21
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