영아의 양육지원을 위한 정책 비교

Comparison of Policy in Support of Infant Care : South Korea, Sweden, and Japan Centered Approach

본 연구는 우리나라 영아기 자녀양육지원 정책의 현황 및 문제점과 대책을 모색하고자 자녀양육지원 정책의 모범 국가인 스웨덴과 우리나라와 유사한 사회·문화적 배경 및 행정체제를 가진 일본의 영아 양육지원 정책을 고찰하였다. 그 결과 영아기 자녀양육을 위한 보육정책의 방향은 부모와 영아의 긍정적 정서관계 돕는 가정중심의 지원으로 정책화되어야 하며, 이를 위해 노동시장에서의 모성 및 가족을 지원하는 고용정책이 요구된다. 또한 영아의 양육을 위한 가족정책 측면에서는 보편주의에 입각하여 저소득층 뿐 아니라 보다 많은 가정에 사회·경제적 지원이 제공될 수 있도록 공적지원의 대상범위를 확대해야 할 것이다. 이를 위해 정부는 자녀수당이나 가족수당 등 보편적이고 질 높은 영아양육을 지원할 수 있는 법적·제도적 기반을 모색하여야 할 것이다.

This study will examine the current situation and problems with South Korea’s policies in support of infant-care, as well as analyze infant-care policies of other nations to find suggestions to propose for improving the quality infant-care policies in South Korea. The proposed policy reforms to improve the support for infant care are listed below. First, the "nurture policy" for rearing of infants must focus on the socio-economic conditions surrounding the infant and the family. Instead of supporting a surrogate nurture method of infant rearing, the policy should be a "family-friendly"approach, which supports the rearing of the child by his/her parent. Second, labor policies must work towards promoting employment policy in support of families and mothers and providing flexible work schedules for female workers. Support for infant care is not only limited to mothers or infants, but it is also very closely related to the labor market and employment policies. Therefore, a policy that actively prosecutes the violation of and supports the compliance of labor laws is necessary. For this purpose, the national government must establish an executive structure with legislative and administrative powers to penalize the violation of or to enforce compliance of employment laws as well as establish an incentive system to promote compliance in order to forcefully implement the maternity system. Third, policy in support of infant care should expand the social and economic support through child payment or family payment that is given to families with infants by introducing a universal infant care system. Fourth, support for infant care must be approached with an over-arching policy encompassing the parent and child as well as the family. For this to be realized the different departments in government must coordinate and work very close together. Furthermore, infant care support policy must be established and implemented in a coordinated effort with the departments supporting women, child, labor, education, and other governmental agencies related to these types of issues. Also, it is important that the established policies be disseminated through media, books, advertisements and campaigns so that the people will understand the policies and the justifications for them. Finally, through the mutual agreement amongst the citizenry on the system, the gap between the system and reality can be narrowed so that the whole society can participate in improving the quality of the infant care system.