KUALA LUMPUR - A short pilot programme that placed Filipino caregivers in Seoul households left them earning only about half of South Korea’s average wage and doing duties beyond child care, a new study has found.

Lee Mi-ae, a professor at Jeju National University Research Institute for the Tamla Culture and the study’s author, said the policy prioritized cheap labor over recognizing care as skilled work.

“The policy was built around securing inexpensive labor rather than recognizing care as skilled work,” Lee said.

Lee said the caregivers were treated as easily replaceable workers rather than people with rights, even though they were recruited through a government-run scheme.

The programme, launched in 2024 by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Labour Ministry, brought in 100 Filipino caregivers to lower child care costs, address labour shortages and reduce career breaks for women.

However, the government later chose not to expand the project, and it was ended after a year amid criticism over weak planning, limited public support and failure to meet its goals.

The study, published in the Korean Journal of Immigration Policy & Administration, was based on surveys and interviews with 21 Filipino caregivers in their 20s and 30s conducted in April and May last year.

It found that during the first six months, caregivers earned an average of 1.92 million won a month before tax, equal to about 51 percent of South Korea’s average monthly wage in 2024.

Although housing was provided, workers faced monthly deductions of up to 520,000 won, cutting average take-home pay to about 1.18 million won, with some earning less than 1 million won.

The study said heavy mandatory deductions, lower hourly wages than Korean caregivers and shorter working hours sharply reduced overall earnings.

Caregivers also reported being asked to clean homes, wash dishes, care for pets and tutor children in English, tasks that went beyond their agreed child care roles.

The study noted that visas tied to employers made it hard for workers to change jobs, leaving them vulnerable, a pattern similar to past cases involving ethnic Korean caregivers from China.

Lee urged the government to allow caregivers to keep residency when changing employers, protect basic labour rights and recognise the true value of care work.

“Without moving beyond the low-wage framing, Korea risks repeating the same cycle,” she wrote, calling for better jobs alongside quality care.