Dual Citizenship and Overseas Births Also Eligible for Child Allowance... Gangdong-gu Improves Payment System to Prevent Fraudulent Claims

Should Child Allowance Payments Be Suspended for Preschool Children Staying Abroad Over 90 Days? Overpayment Due to Omission
Comprehensive Survey of Overpayment Recovery Targets and Establishment of Systematic Management for Dual Nationals and Overseas-Born Children

All children under the age of 8 receive a monthly child allowance of 100,000 KRW, and children aged 24 to under 86 months who do not attend daycare centers or kindergartens receive a childcare allowance of 100,000 KRW per month. However, if a preschool child stays overseas for more than 90 days, the payment of childcare and child allowances is suspended according to Article 34-2 of the Infant Care Act and Article 13 of the Child Allowance Act.

However, in the case of dual nationality children, if they use a passport from another nationality, the system is not linked, creating a blind spot in management that cannot be detected unless the beneficiary reports it first. This has frequently led to cases of incorrect allowance payments. Moreover, the number of families who give birth abroad, briefly return to Korea to register the birth, and then stay overseas again is increasing.

In particular, as low birth rates have emerged as a social issue and birth support funds have significantly increased since 2022, concerns over welfare budget leakage due to this have grown.

In response, Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Soo-hee) announced on the 29th that it has launched a full investigation targeting recipients who were mistakenly paid child and childcare allowances over the past five years and has established a foundation to systematically manage dual nationality children and children born overseas.

Through the full investigation that began last May, Gangdong-gu has finalized the recovery of overpaid amounts totaling 32.3 million KRW for 90 out of 250 cases subject to recovery in the district, and is currently processing the remaining cases.

Additionally, the district actively participated in the 'Parent Allowance Practical Support Task Force (TF)' organized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Childcare Project Planning Division last year, urging the establishment of measures to prevent overpayments in advance and demanding the creation of a manual to unify passport information input nationwide for system linkage with immigration.

In fact, the 2024 Parent Allowance Project Guide produced this year by the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Childcare Project Planning Division newly includes a 'User Manual for Managing Dual Nationality and Overseas-born Children,' which provides detailed instructions for all city, county, and district officials nationwide to register and manage children’s birth information in the system when receiving infant welfare applications.

Han Mi-jung, Director of the Family Policy Division, stated, “We will continue to do our best to recover overpayments and thoroughly manage dual nationality and overseas-born children from the application stage to prevent overpayment cases, ensuring that precious tax money is not wasted.”