The Seoul Metropolitan Council’s standing committee passed the abolition of the Social Service Center < Welfare < Society < Article text

The Health and Welfare Committee of the Seoul City Council passed an ordinance to abolish the Seoul Social Service Center.

The Health and Welfare Committee of the Seoul Metropolitan Council held a plenary meeting on the afternoon of the 25th and passed an ordinance to abolish the Ordinance on the Establishment and Operation Support of the Seoul Social Service Center (Seoul Social Service Center Ordinance). While three members of the Democratic Party of Korea were absent from the vote, all six members of the People Power Party voted in favor.

The Seoul Social Service Center has been operating since 2019 to increase the public nature and professionalism of social services provided within the city and to improve the working environment and treatment of care workers. It is a system to strengthen responsibility in social services and social welfare areas such as infant care, elderly care, and support for the disabled. However, ever since Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon was elected in a by-election in July 2022, there has been constant pressure to abolish it. Last year, the city of Seoul cut the budget for the Social Service Institute by 10 billion won, and as a result, the working hours of nursing care workers were reduced from 8 hours a day to 6 hours, leading to a series of problems such as a decrease in wages. Some Seoul city council members pointed out that hiring nursing care workers on a monthly salary system was a problem. In the end, last February, 14 People Power Party lawmakers, led by Health and Welfare Committee Chairman Kang Seok-ju, proposed an abolition ordinance.

Labor and Seoul citizens have opposed the abolition of the Seoul Social Service Center. In a survey conducted last year on parents who use the Seoul Social Service Center’s daycare center, 318 out of 324 users responded, “Seoul Social Service Center’s care services are better than private daycare centers,” and 311 people opposed the suspension of the Seoul Social Service Center’s daycare center operation. .

The Joint Task Force for Blocking the Abolition of the Social Service Center and Expanding Public Care held a press conference this morning in front of the Jung-gu City Council in Seoul, where the Health and Welfare Committee of the Seoul City Council is held, and urged the government to stop the push for the abolition of the Social Service Center. The Engineering Committee said, “Chairman Kang Seok-ju, who proposed the abolition ordinance, claims that the Social Service Agency does not guarantee publicness, but this is due to the government’s irresponsibility in trying to address the rapidly increasing demand for care at low costs while failing to respond to the low birth rate and aging society.” “It is once again an excuse for politics to shift the burden to families and women,” he criticized.

Since the local council does not have a standing committee to review the wording of the bill like the Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly, the abolition ordinance is expected to be immediately submitted to the plenary session on the 26th.