[Yoon Administration Economy] Parental Leave Extended to 1 Year 6 Months... Monthly Parent Allowance of 1 Million Won for Parents of 0-Year-Old Children

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] The government will extend the parental leave period from 1 year to 1.5 years. The duration of spouse maternity leave will also be reviewed through a survey to decide on its expansion. Starting from January next year, the government plans to gradually strengthen childbirth incentives, including a monthly parental allowance of 1 million KRW for children aged 0.

The government announced these new administration economic policy directions on the 16th.

First, the government plans to establish a pan-government public-private joint population response system and respond based on the '4 major sectors and 8 core tasks.' Measures for each sector, including expanding the economically active population, preparing for a shrinking society, preparing for an aging society, and addressing low birth rates, will be announced sequentially after July.

Social discussions will be promoted to continue employment for the elderly, and ways to expand economic participation of women and the elderly, such as supporting the return of women with career interruptions, will be explored.

The government plans to comprehensively review foreign workforce policies at the pan-government level, including improving the foreign workforce introduction system by creating new visas for advanced sectors and reorganizing the policy implementation system.

In response to low birth rates, childbirth incentives such as parental allowance and the First Meeting Voucher (worth 2 million KRW) will be strengthened. For parental allowance, the monthly amount for children aged 0 will be gradually increased from 700,000 KRW to 1 million KRW, and for children aged 1, from 350,000 KRW to 500,000 KRW over next year and the year after. A parental leave system will be introduced that supports 100% of the ordinary wage (capped at 2 to 3 million KRW) for the first 3 months when parents of children under 0 years old take parental leave simultaneously or sequentially.

Additionally, the parental leave period will be extended from 1 year to 1.5 years, and the spouse maternity leave period will be expanded following surveys and opinion gathering processes.

To prepare for a shrinking society, the government will promote restructuring of the military centered on advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robots, and establish an integrated system for medical, care, and nursing services through the introduction and expansion of home medical centers and linkage of regional medical and care systems.