Daegu City to Invest 600 Billion KRW Next Year to Overcome Low Birthrate and Promote Youth Settlement

Significant Support for Newlyweds, Mothers, Infants, and Youth

Daegu City Hall.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Trainee Reporter Lee Seryeong] Daegu City plans to significantly allocate 693.2 billion KRW in next year’s budget to address the issues of low birthrate and population decline.

The city announced that it will focus its efforts on solving regional population problems by introducing and expanding related projects so that children can be happy and young people can plan their futures.

Next year, Daegu City will support interest rates on housing and urban fund rental loans exclusively for newlywed couples residing in the region, providing 0.5?1% interest support for childless and one-child households, and up to 1.6% for households with two or more children.

The plan is to reduce interest burdens by up to 2.88 million KRW annually for a maximum of six years, with an estimated 680 households expected to benefit next year.

Newlywed couples without housing who move to Daegu will receive 1?1.6% interest support on rental loan interest depending on the number of children.

Regardless of income, they can reduce interest by up to 1.6 million KRW annually, for up to four years, totaling a maximum of 6.4 million KRW, with about 140 households expected to benefit.

For 11,205 pregnant women registered as residents in the city, the city operates the Moms Call taxi service, supporting 70% of the usage fee up to a monthly limit of 20,000 KRW.

All babies born after January 1 will receive a 2 million KRW First Meeting Voucher usable for one year from the date of resident registration, with 1 million KRW for the birth of a second child and 2 million KRW for the third child and beyond as childbirth congratulatory money.

The childbirth incentive payment, which was previously paid in installments to families with two or more children, will end; however, children born in 2020 and 2021 will receive support for the remaining period.

Daegu will expand the dispatch of Daegu-type maternal health managers, enabling mothers and babies to manage their health at home at minimal cost without using postpartum care centers, and will provide 200,000 KRW for postpartum care costs to families unable to use the managers.

From the newborns of the new year, infants aged 0 to 1 will receive a monthly infant allowance of 300,000 KRW, which can be chosen as cash, daycare vouchers, or full-day child care government subsidies.

For children enrolled in daycare centers, 7,000 KRW per child per month will be paid to childcare institutions, and a budget of 2.8 billion KRW is allocated to provide free weekday lunches for kindergarten students.

New middle and high school students in the region, as well as transfer students from other cities, provinces, or overseas, will receive uniforms worth up to 300,000 KRW per person in kind, and children from families with three or more children will receive a 500,000 KRW high school entrance congratulatory gift.

The city will regularly provide policy information targeting youth on major jobs and housing, offer field tours of mid-sized companies, public institutions, and leading new industry companies, and manage to help graduates settle in the region.

University students from other regions enrolled locally will receive an annual settlement support fund of 400,000 KRW paid via Daegu Happiness Pay, and housing support of 200,000 KRW per month for up to 12 months will be provided to housing-free youth aged 19 to 34 living separately from their parents.

When renting a house with a converted lease deposit of 200 million KRW or less, interest will be supported up to 1 million KRW annually for up to four years; for deposits up to 300 million KRW, the full return guarantee fee will be supported for up to four years to secure the rental deposit.

As a pilot project for a future talent city, Daegu is building a Dream Support Funding platform, providing up to 10 teams with 10 million KRW each, and up to 50 individuals with 5 million KRW each to support youth innovation activities.

A youth return channel has been created to operate the regional information platform Yolo Onna, provide Daegu exploration programs, and hold regional U-turn information sessions to welcome the re-entry of young people who left Daegu for studies or employment.

The city connects local small and medium-sized enterprises with five or more employees and unemployed youth with over one year of experience who wish to return to Daegu, providing wage support and job training to alleviate manpower shortages in local companies, create youth jobs, and encourage regional settlement.

Mayor Kwon Young-jin said, “We worked harder than ever to secure a budget that will help future generations,” adding, “We will do our best to add vitality with new populations, enhance the city’s image as a young city through policies, and establish a foundation for a healthy population structure.”