THERE ARE very few things that haven’t changed amidst the pandemic—one of them being the nine to five working hours. Although nationwide implementation of social distancing saw an increase of people working from home and longer childcare leaves to accommodate parents with young children, many still need to go to work. For working parents with children and no outside help, this means that from nine to five, their children are inevitably left home alone.

All because of ramen?

   Since the beginning of the pandemic, many families were concerned about possible neglect due to decreased childcare services. Working parents in particular were troubled about their children being left home while they were at work. The government tried to resume or expand childcare services and provide aid, but there were limits as the nation went under social distancing.

   An accident that occurred in Incheon on September 14 reminded everyone of the gaps in child protection during the pandemic. Two brothers, ages 10 and 8, accidentally started a house fire while cooking lunch by themselves. Although both were rescued, they breathed in fumes and were unconscious for 11 days*. The incident was coined as the “Ramen Brothers” case and spread by popular media, although the Michuhol-gu Fire Department clarified there was no evidence of ramen being the actual cause of the fire and is likely a false assumption**. Regardless, the case deeply resonated with the public, and almost \1 million was raised for their hospital treatment and long-term recovery***.

   As the case unfolded in the public eye, most criticized the mother of the children, who had been absent from the house since the night before the day of the accident. When the media discovered that she was accused of neglect and abuse before the pandemic, and that the child protective services tried and failed to put the children into protective facilities, many pointed to this case not as an isolated incident but as a reflection of today’s society****. Along with the increase of neglect and abuse at home, the pandemic decreased the reach of child protection services and the amount of investigation into potential abuse situations; 75% of potential neglect or abuse cases weren’t getting proper visitation inquiries due to the fear of potentially spreading the virus*****. Not only did the system fail to protect neglected children, the blind spots in child protection and care expanded dramatically as previous childcare services broke down in the pandemic.

Socially distanced childcare

   The most noticeable “gap” in childcare occurred due to the closure of public schools. With the danger of mass infections, most schools resorted to online classes with many kindergartens being closed, especially in the early months of 2020. Although some facilities opened their doors later on, online classes at home were still the default in many cases, with limited time physically spent at school. An elementary school teacher in Tongyeong told The Yonsei Annals that schools aren’t only for education, but also “an institution for taking care of children during the hours when most caregivers are working.” “Students’ coming to school means that they’re in a safe environment where they can access additional services like healthy food and adult supervision under a consistent schedule. After-school programs, too, are public aid for children who would otherwise be home alone, decreasing the potential for neglect,” she commented. This protective function is most important for younger children who have difficulty procuring basic needs such as feeding themselves or keeping themselves safe. Many private academies, which offer adult supervision out of school, halted their classes or switched online as well, significantly cutting off venues where children could go to when they lacked supervision at home******. A report by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family revealed that by May, more than half of elementary school students with working parents were left home alone for almost 5 hours on average. This was even longer for middle school students with working parents, who spent an average of 6 hours without supervision.

   In face of these issues, the government implemented paid leaves for working parents for childcare and emergency childcare services. However, not many people actually utilized these support systems. The Ministry report stated that only a maximum of 20% of working parents actually used the childcare leaves. KBS reported that many parents couldn’t use them due to pressure from their employers. It’s also worth noting that accessibility to these services was limited. “Caregivers who have less stable jobs or who are self-employed and work in primary industries don’t even have access to these paid leaves,” the Tongyeong teacher pointed out. “Parents from low-income or unstable households rely on public institutions most heavily for childcare, so their children are at higher risk of neglect in the pandemic.” The Ministry report also stated that more than half of the respondents didn’t use the emergency childcare programs. The report suggested that few elementary schoolers’ parents used these programs because many parents assumed that elementary school kids were old enough to be left alone. People were most reluctant to send their children to these facilities because of the fear of an infection, followed by distrust of public institutions’ safety. Wariness of public childcare facilities was already prevalent before the pandemic following cases of government-employed caregivers abusing children, and the paranoia of potential mass infections in group childcare only exacerbated their aversion*******. Parents would rather leave their children home alone than leave them in governmental childcare facilities that they distrust.

   Although this has become an increasing concern, there’s not much that outsiders can do in cases of subtle neglect in the current system. “The children from the Incheon fire accident were denied daycare services because their mother refused,” the Tongyeong teacher explained. “Currently, the parent has almost complete control over the child’s protection. If they refuse childcare services, like the Incheon case, there’s little that teachers and childcare workers can do to enforce it.”

What’s changing, what’s not

   The growing demand for better child protection pushed many authority figures to take action. President Moon even commented on the accident, pressing the need to protect vulnerable children and calling for institutional reform********. According to Yonhap News, the Ministry of Welfare launched a special investigation looking into cases of children being abused or neglected and sought to expand emergency care services. In addition, the government announced giving monetary aid to families with young children to relieve childcare expenses, and expanded the age range of the recipients up to middle school students. The government also further extended paid childcare leaves for working parents, urging workers to use them freely, and the Ministry of Education is conducting a survey from parents of elementary school students to plan a comprehensive childcare policy for 2021.

   However, it’s unclear whether these policies can act as a comprehensive, sustainable safety net. The Ministry report suggested that people distrusted public services to be safe and useful for their children, hence the low usage rate despite high necessity. The uniqueness of the pandemic situation, where human contact is undesirable, combined with underlying distrust of public facilities may lead to continued low usage, with parents opting to leave their children at home by themselves regardless of expanded services. The expansion of paid leaves, too, is only beneficial for short-term childcare that will run out quickly if the pandemic drags on further. Although the new policies are a step in the right direction, the reactionary policies may serve more as a quick band-aid over a festering wound rather than an effective cure. A comprehensive plan is urgently needed to cover the current blind spots of the childcare system and to protect vulnerable children left alone and forgotten.

*Yonhap News

**The Herald Business

***The Herald Business

****The Hankyoreh

*****YTN

******Yonhap News

*******EDaily

********The Hankyoreh