Gyeonggi-do Expands 'Single-Parent Family Childcare Expense Support'...Nation's First

Gyeonggi-do's 'Single-Parent Family Childcare Support Expansion' Information Poster

Gyeonggi Province will expand the eligibility for single-parent family child-rearing expenses from the nationwide first standard of ‘63% of median income’ to ‘100% of median income’ starting in March. This measure aims to alleviate the child-rearing burden for single-parent families, and newly selected beneficiaries will receive 100,000 KRW per month.

On the 22nd, Gyeonggi Province announced that it will carry out the single-parent family child-rearing expense expansion project together with eight cities and counties?Hwaseong, Siheung, Icheon, Yeoju, Gwangmyeong, Anseong, Guri, and Gapyeong?that decided to participate in the project this year.

Hwaseong, Siheung, Icheon, and Yeoju will begin accepting applications for the child-rearing expense support project from March 4. The remaining cities and counties?Gwangmyeong, Anseong, Guri, and Gapyeong?will accept applications in the second half of the year. Gyeonggi Province is also negotiating participation with the other 23 cities and counties.

Until now, Gyeonggi Province has supported single-parent families with a median income of 63% or less by providing 210,000 KRW per child per month until the child turns 18, or 350,000 KRW per child per month for youth single-parent families where the mother or father is 24 years old or younger with a median income of 65% or less.

This time, Gyeonggi Province’s expansion project for single-parent family child-rearing expenses raised the eligibility criteria to 100% of median income so that single-parent families exceeding the government’s recognized income standard can also benefit. Grandparent-headed families and youth single parents are also eligible.

Accordingly, those with a median income of 63% or less will receive 210,000 KRW per month (350,000 KRW per month for youth single parents with 65% or less), and those newly eligible with a median income exceeding 63% (65% for youth single parents) up to 100% will receive 100,000 KRW per child per month until the child turns 18. The additional funding for the expanded recipients will be covered 30% by provincial funds and 70% by city and county funds.

An Seung-man, Director of the Family and Multicultural Division of Gyeonggi Province, said, "According to the 2021 Ministry of Gender Equality and Family survey on single-parent families, the biggest difficulty single-parent families face when raising children is child-rearing expenses, and the top policy support needed is cash support such as child-rearing expenses. We will do our best to create a stable child-rearing environment for single-parent families and promote the healthy growth of children."

Meanwhile, as of 2022, there are 382,892 single-parent families in Gyeonggi Province, accounting for 25.6% of the nationwide total of 1,494,067 families.