"Self-Employed Workers Also Eligible for 'Maternity Leave'... Seoul City to Provide 900,000 Won Maternity Benefit"

Multiple births receive '1.7 million won' support

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will become the first in the nation to provide childbirth benefits to self-employed individuals and freelancers who are pregnant or have pregnant spouses, enabling them to give birth and take maternity or paternity leave.

On the 22nd, the city announced that it will support childbirth benefits of 900,000 KRW for self-employed individuals and freelancers who have given birth, aiming to address the blind spots that have been neglected in low birthrate countermeasures. When combined with the existing employment insurance support of 1.5 million KRW (500,000 KRW per month for three months), the total amount received will be 2.4 million KRW. In the case of pregnant women expecting multiples, the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s existing support of 1.5 million KRW will be supplemented by an additional 1.7 million KRW from the Seoul Metropolitan Government, providing a total childbirth benefit of 3.2 million KRW.

Additionally, male self-employed individuals and freelancers with spouses who have given birth will receive 800,000 KRW as a 'Spouse Childbirth Leave Support Fund.' Unlike wage workers such as office employees, self-employed individuals and freelancers have not been able to receive support for their wives’ pregnancy and childbirth until now. The city explained that this new system will open a path to compensate for income loss caused by temporary business closures or hiring substitute workers due to accompanying their wives to hospitals and other related activities.

A Seoul city official elaborated on the purpose, saying, "Self-employed individuals and freelancers who run cafes, nail salons, beauty salons, etc., alone may face a halt in their livelihood activities due to childbirth, unlike office workers, so support for them is absolutely necessary." According to Statistics Korea, as of 2023, there are a total of 815,000 self-employed individuals in Seoul, of which 516,000 (63%) are one-person self-employed.

Currently, pregnancy and childbirth support systems such as maternity leave benefits are operated mainly for wage workers based on the Employment Insurance Act and other laws. Although artists and labor providers are exceptionally supported under the Employment Insurance Act with maternity leave benefits, one-person self-employed individuals and freelancers fall outside this legal protection scope.

Since 2019, the Ministry of Employment and Labor has been providing 500,000 KRW per month for three months to women who are self-employed or freelancers and cannot receive maternity leave benefits under the Employment Insurance Act. However, this amount has been criticized as insufficient because it is less than the 2.4 million KRW maternity leave benefit supported under the Employment Insurance Act. With Seoul’s additional support, each individual will be guaranteed 2.4 million KRW.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government’s childbirth benefits for pregnant women and spouse childbirth leave support fund will apply to households giving birth after the announcement of these support measures. After prior procedures such as consultations on establishing social security systems with the Ministry of Health and Welfare and ordinance amendments, the program is planned to be implemented starting in 2025.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon stated, "I hope that this newly prepared childbirth benefit support project will provide greater strength to self-employed individuals and freelancers who give birth and raise children," adding, "We will continue to consider and steadily promote low birthrate policies that have a high level of field awareness."