Namdong-gu, Incheon announced on the 21st that it has proposed the establishment of a 'Grandchild Care Support Allowance' to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and Incheon City as part of the child care support project to address the low birthrate issue.
The child care support project provides care services by sending caregivers to the homes of families with children under 12 years old who experience care gaps, such as dual-income families. It is mostly used by dual-income families, with commuting times of parents and school drop-off/pick-up times for children (6-8 AM, 4-6 PM) accounting for 68% of total usage.
However, due to the concentration of demand during specific time periods, waiting times have become long, leading many dual-income families to rely on grandparents' help or private caregivers instead of using the service.
Namdong-gu believes that to solve this problem, the child care support project should be improved to include government-level consideration of providing financial support when grandparents care for children.
If the policy is implemented, it is expected to resolve the imbalance between supply and demand in the current child care support project, reduce waiting times for service use, and contribute to children's emotional stability through grandparent care as well as create jobs for the elderly.
Park Jong-hyo, Mayor of Namdong-gu, said, "To solve the low birthrate issue, central government ministries and local governments must work together," adding, "We will continuously knock on the doors of the central government to discover effective policies for solving the low birthrate issue on the ground and institutionalize them."
Previously, in October last year, Namdong-gu proposed the institutionalization of 'family care' and 'additional infant care allowance' to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and Incheon City to alleviate the low birthrate and create a better environment for raising children.
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