Analysis of Parents' Perception of Education and Care Policies Vis-à-Vis the Government's Plan to Reverse the Low Birth Rate Trend

This study analyzes parents' perceptions of education and care policies (awareness of policy content and expected effects of policies) in the government's recent measures to reverse the low birth rate trend, and provides implications for exploring additional policies and ways to supplement them. The results of an analysis of a total of 381 parents with children aged 0 to 5 are as follows. First, parents' awareness of the policy content of education and care policies was 2.69 out of 5, and their awareness of the expected effects of the policy was 3.49. Second, as a result of analyzing the differences in parents' perceptions according to background variables, it was found that there were partial inter-group differences in the detailed groups of variables such as parent classification, parent age, child age, regional classification, and work type in all areas. Third, as a result of analyzing the difference between parents' perception of the policy content and their perception of the expected effects of the policy, it was found that there was a difference between perceptions in all areas, and the gap between perceptions was largest in the area of strengthening care services tailored to regional characteristics. Based on these results, first, there is a need for an intensive policy opinion collection process and policy reflection of people in their 20s and men (fathers). Second, it is necessary to establish a system to designate, install, and operate essential and core education and care institutions in areas at risk of population extinction and to confirm and manage the supply and demand of education and care infrastructure. Third, policies with group-specific issues (Neulbom School, foreign home visit caregivers, etc.) need to be supplemented through an additional opinion collection process. Lastly, it suggests that the government's multifaceted efforts are needed to discover policies that are linked not only to joint government ministries but also to the private sector.