Democratic Party Proposes Three Basic Income Bills for Births... "An Alternative to Overcome Low Birthrate"

Proposals to Amend the Child Allowance Act, Child Welfare Act, and Restriction of Special Taxation Act
"Government and Ruling Party Must Quickly Agree on Committee Formation"

The Democratic Party of Korea has proposed a bill to increase the amount of child allowance payments and support asset formation for all children as a measure to address the low birthrate issue.

Members of the Democratic Party belonging to the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee and the Health and Welfare Committee held a joint press conference on the morning of the 17th at the National Assembly Communication Hall in Yeouido, Seoul, to propose the three Birth Basic Income Acts (Partial Amendment to the Child Welfare Act, Partial Amendment to the Restriction of Special Taxation Act, Partial Amendment to the Child Allowance Act). [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the morning of the 17th, Democratic Party members of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee and Planning and Finance Committee held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Hall in Yeouido, Seoul, to announce the 'Democratic Party Basic Birth Income Three Acts (Amendments to the Child Allowance Act, Child Welfare Act, and Restriction of Special Taxation Act).' Assemblywoman Jeon Jin-sook proposed an amendment to the Child Allowance Act to expand the child allowance from 100,000 won for children under 8 years old to 200,000 won until the age of 18. Assemblywoman Kang Seon-woo proposed the 'Our Child Independence Fund Act' (an amendment to the Child Welfare Act), which expands the existing asset formation support project from only vulnerable children to all children. Assemblyman Lim Kwang-hyun introduced the Restriction of Special Taxation Act amendment to provide tax exemption benefits for the Our Child Independence Fund. These bills were adopted as party-sponsored bills.

Assemblyman Jeong Tae-ho of the Democratic Party stated at the press conference, "In the general election, the Democratic Party announced the 'Five Basic Social Promises' and promised to support the basic lives of the people. Among these, basic birth income and universal child support embody the government's commitment to share the present and future of children as a solution to overcome the urgent low birthrate crisis."

Assemblywoman Kang said, "South Korea is a critically endangered country with the fastest population decline in the world," and added, "The government and ruling party must urgently agree on the formation of the National Assembly and act with a sense of crisis." She also emphasized, "President Yoon Seok-yeol promised to establish a Low Birthrate Response Planning Department, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance has said it will consider financial and tax support. We urge the relevant standing committees to convene quickly so that the bills can be reviewed and passed."

Regarding the funding for low birthrate measures, the plan is to secure it by reallocating existing budgets. Assemblyman Lim Kwang-hyun of the Democratic Party said, "Despite 380 trillion won having been invested in low birthrate budgets so far, the birthrate has declined. Non-urgent parts of the budget should be restructured, and the budgets that are practically insufficient need to be expanded."