After-school programs were particularly necessary for children of low-income working parents because many primary school students would wander aimlessly in the streets or skip meals while their parents were still at work, in turn becoming vulnerable to dangerous situations. In 1998, KWWA petitioned the government to start dispatching after-school teachers to primary schools. The after-school teacher program had two purposes. First was to provide adequate protection for children in low-income households, and secondly, the program created training and employment opportunities for many women who lost their jobs during the IMF financial crisis. The Ministry of Labor accepted this proposal, and implemented support for after-school classroom as part of a public jobs program. As a result, 70 teachers were dispatched to 43 primary schools in 7 regions throughout the country. However, the teachers were subjected to extremely low wages and insecure employment in which their contracts were subject to renewal on a yearly basis. KWWA organized public forums and submitted recommendations to the Ministry of Labor to address the situation, and since 2004, has played a major leadership role in the After-school Daycare Task Force Team of the Korean Women’s Association United, participating in the preparation of School-age Child Protection and Education Assistance Act. Also in 2005, KWWA regional offices organized meetings and workshops to establish local government ordinances, and played an active role in raising awareness in the local community. Presently, the School-age Child Protection and Education Assistance Act is currently pending decision at the National Assembly. 6) Policies for Women and Unemployment Establishing the Action Center for Women’s Unemployment The financial crisis beginning in late 1997 quickly insurance benefits even after they were fired. raised the profile of the unemployment issue. Unemployed female heads of households in Women were among the groups most affected by particular faced extremely bleak prospects. In unemployment. Once terminated from their jobs, spite of these needs, no government policies women faced far more difficulty finding another addressed women’s unemployment issues. In job, and because most women were employed in 1998, KWWA compared notes with the regional the service sector with less than 5 employees, they branches about the employment situation of were not eligible to receive unemployment women workers, and resolved to take action to