Seoul City Provides 200,000 KRW Monthly Childcare Support per Child to 'Teenage Moms and Dads'

Youth Parents Face Complex Challenges Balancing Childcare, Studies, and Employment... Pilot Project Until Year-End
Targeting Households with Both Parents Under 24 and Income Below 60% of Median

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government will provide 200,000 KRW per child per month in 'Childcare Support Funds' for teenage mothers and fathers.

According to Seoul City on the 11th, both parents must be teenagers under the Youth Welfare Support Act, aged 24 or younger, and the household income must be below 60% of the median income (for a family of three, monthly income of 2,516,000 KRW) to be eligible. They will receive 200,000 KRW per child per month until December. Households already receiving childcare and self-reliance support for teenage single parents are excluded.

Teenage parents face complex difficulties as they raise children at a young age while simultaneously managing studies, job preparation, and part-time work. Although teenage single parents have received support under the Single-Parent Family Support Act, families consisting solely of teenage parents have lacked specific support and faced hardships. It is estimated that there are 132 teenage parent households currently residing in Seoul.

Seoul City announced that it will conduct a pilot project for childcare support funds for teenage parents until the end of the year. This pilot project is led by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and is funded equally by national and city budgets on a 50-50 matching basis.

Seoul City has been providing support for teenage parents, who have been in a policy blind spot, through 10 'District Family Centers' including Jongno and Dongdaemun, offering learning and emotional support, daily life assistance, psychological counseling and connections to professional counseling agencies, and legal support. The 10 district family centers are located in Jongno, Dongdaemun, Dobong, Eunpyeong, Seodaemun, Guro, Geumcheon, Yeongdeungpo, Gwanak, and Seocho.

Kim Seon-soon, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Women and Family Policy Office, said, “Providing childcare support funds will be a great help to teenage parents who are balancing child-rearing with studies and employment.” She added, “Having established the foundation through ordinance enactment, we will develop more systematic and comprehensive support policies starting with childcare support funds.”