Incheon Says "We Give 100 Million Won for Childbirth"... How Much for Newborns in Our Neighborhood?

Government and Local Governments Expand Cash Support Measures for Birth Rate
Central Government Support at 72.5 Million KRW... Additional Regional Support
Yesan-gun Provides Additional 30 Million KRW for Families with Fifth Child or More

South Korea, where the total fertility rate (the expected number of children a woman will have in her lifetime) is expected to fall to the 0.6 range, is a representative low-fertility country ranked 'last' among the OECD countries. As the government pours in active childbirth and childcare support measures to reverse the declining birth rate, children born this year are guaranteed government support funds worth around 100 million won.

100 Million Won Support Until Age 18 for Those Born in Incheon

The most talked-about policy recently is Incheon City's '100 Million + iDream' policy. The large amount of 100 million won in the policy name attracted much attention. However, the entire 100 million won was not newly established this year. It means that the amount of 100 million won is the sum of the existing 72.5 million won support from the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the supplementary support from Incheon City.

This year, the Ministry of Health and Welfare provides a total of 72.5 million won in support for every newborn child nationwide, including ▲1 million won for pregnancy and childbirth medical expenses ▲2 million won for the First Meeting Voucher (3 million won from the second child) ▲18 million won in parental allowance (1 million won per month for 0-year-olds, 500,000 won per month for 1-year-olds) ▲9.6 million won in child allowance (100,000 won per month until age 8) ▲25.4 million won for childcare fees and meal expenses ▲16.5 million won for elementary, middle, and high school education expenses.

In addition, Incheon City decided to provide additional support funds from its own budget. It will pay ▲8.4 million won in Cheonsan support funds (100,000 won per month for ages 1 to 7) ▲19.8 million won in iDream allowance (50,000 won per month for ages 8 to 18) ▲500,000 won for pregnant women's transportation expenses, totaling 28.7 million won. Combined with the Ministry of Health and Welfare's existing system, families giving birth in Incheon will receive a total of 101.2 million won in support.

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More Regions Offering Nearly 100 Million Won in Support Besides Incheon

Other regions also operate childbirth and childcare support funds to ease the burden on families. Chungbuk Province, ranked first in birth rate increase according to Statistics Korea's 'October 2023 Population Trends,' also provides additional childbirth and childcare allowances. It pays a total of 10 million won, ranging from 1 million to 2 million won per year for children aged 1 to 6. Additionally, postpartum care expenses of 500,000 won are paid uniformly to mothers who give birth in the province, and an extra 500,000 won in transportation expenses is provided to mothers in delivery-vulnerable areas without obstetrics and gynecology clinics. When all confirmed support funds are combined, families can receive more than 80 million won. Furthermore, with the removal of income limits on infertility treatment costs, support for prenatal health management, expanded support for egg freezing procedures, and support for prenatal education travel packages, the actual amount of support available increases even more.

Chungbuk aims for a 10% increase in births this year. Governor Kim Young-hwan of Chungbuk sees housing issues as one of the causes of the declining birth rate and is promoting a 'half-price apartment' project. A pilot project is underway to build 250 apartments on provincial land in Cheongju, operated under a lease-first-then-sale model, with plans to expand to other sites later.

Daejeon City operates a basic childcare allowance system that pays 150,000 won per month up to the age of 2, totaling 5.4 million won. Initially, the 'Daejeon-type Basic Childcare Allowance' policy provided 300,000 won per month for children aged 0 to 36 months, totaling 10.8 million won, but due to the expansion of overlapping cash welfare programs, the support amount was cut starting this year.

Sejong City pays a childbirth congratulatory gift of 1.2 million won per child regardless of the number of children this year. Some regions limit support to large families. Daegu City provides 1 million won for the second child and 2 million won for the third child and beyond. In Busan City, families can receive a lump sum of 1 million won starting from the second child.

Some basic local governments operate their own childbirth and childcare support systems. Generally, the support amount increases with the number of children and is often separate from metropolitan government support. Gangnam-gu in Seoul provides 2 million won for the first and second child, and 3 million and 5 million won for the third and fourth child, respectively. Jung-gu in Seoul offers ▲1 million won for the first child ▲2 million won for the second ▲3 million won for the third ▲5 million won for the fourth ▲10 million won for the fifth and beyond. Geumcheon-gu supports 700,000 won from the third child and 1 million won from the fourth child onward.

In Ulsan, Jung, Nam, Dong, and Buk districts provide 600,000 to 700,000 won for the first child and 500,000 to 1 million won for the second child and beyond. Ulsan's Ulju-gun, which offers the highest support in the region, pays 700,000 won for the first child, 2.5 million won for the second, and 5 million won for the third in installments. Additionally, Ulsan City supports ▲childcare fee differences ▲necessary expenses and meal costs for daycare centers.

Seosan City in Chungnam provides childbirth encouragement funds of ▲500,000 won for the first child ▲1 million won for the second ▲5 million won for the third ▲10 million won for the fourth and beyond. Gongju City offers ▲3 million won for the first child ▲5 million won for the second ▲10 million won for the third and beyond. Yesan-gun pays 500,000 won as a childbirth congratulatory gift and provides installment payments based on the number of children: ▲5 million won for the first child ▲10 million won for the second ▲15 million won for the third ▲20 million won for the fourth ▲30 million won for the fifth and beyond.

Mungyeong City in Gyeongbuk pays 1 million won as a childbirth congratulatory gift, 1 million won as a first birthday congratulatory gift, and provides 200,000 won per month for 15 months as childcare support. Gumi City offers ▲1 million won for the first child ▲1.2 million won for the second ▲2 million won for the third ▲3 million won for the fourth ▲4 million won for the fifth and beyond. Goryeong-gun pays ▲1.5 million won for the first child ▲4.8 million won for the second ▲7.2 million won for the third ▲12 million won for the fourth and beyond in installments.