Gumi Secures Supplementary Budget for Low Birthrate Measures... Key Projects to Launch in Second Half

Secured Total of 17.7 Billion KRW in Supplementary Budget Including National and Local Funds to Overcome Low Birthrate Crisis

Strengthening Support by Life Cycle from Youth Housing Assistance to Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Childcare

Gumi City, North Gyeongsang Province, announced that the first supplementary budget proposal, which focused on measures to address low birth rates, passed the 279th Gumi City Council special session on the 31st.

Gumi City Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Through this supplementary budget, a total of 17.7 billion KRW, including approximately 10 billion KRW from national and provincial funds, has been secured for low birth rate countermeasures, giving further momentum to key projects scheduled for full-scale implementation in the second half of the year.

In February, Gumi City became the first in North Gyeongsang Province to establish a low birth rate countermeasures task force, and in July, created the Future Education and Care Bureau through organizational restructuring, taking systematic measures to address the low birth rate issue.

By continuously proposing new projects to the central government and making every effort to secure funding, the city attracted a variety of initiatives such as the North Gyeongsang Province K-Bodeum project, Job Convenience Store, and a pilot call taxi service exclusively for pregnant women, securing the largest budget in the province.

This supplementary budget is focused on four key areas with the aim of making this year the starting point for reversing the low birth rate trend: comprehensive care, secure housing, pregnancy and childbirth, and the expansion of a work-life balance culture that is friendly to childrearing.

In the comprehensive care sector, 5.8 billion KRW has been allocated for projects such as establishing community childcare villages and supporting the operation of child-friendly vehicles (3 billion KRW), childcare fee support (700 million KRW), wage and welfare improvements for childcare workers (600 million KRW), and the North Gyeongsang Province Job Convenience Store pilot project to support care and short-term jobs for women with career interruptions (500 million KRW).

In the secure housing sector, 7.3 billion KRW will be invested in projects such as monthly rent support for youth and newlyweds (3.6 billion KRW), the creation and improvement of safe school routes in child protection zones, installation of smart crosswalks and security CCTVs for child safety infrastructure (2.3 billion KRW), and the creation of family-friendly playgrounds (400 million KRW).

In the pregnancy, childbirth, and medical services sector, 2 billion KRW will be provided for projects including a pilot call taxi service exclusively for pregnant women (500 million KRW), emergency medical support for children and adolescents and operation of a neonatal intensive care unit (600 million KRW), expanded support for infertility treatment for couples (300 million KRW), and eco-friendly agricultural product support for pregnant women (260 million KRW).

In the work-life balance and childrearing-friendly sector, 2.6 billion KRW will be used for projects such as the Small Business Childbirth Encouragement I-Bodeum Support (2.2 billion KRW) and a campaign to improve awareness of childcare culture (300 million KRW).

Gumi 24 Hours Bisan-dong Village Care Center.

The city plans to focus on implementing customized policies for each stage of life, from encouraging young people to settle in the region to pregnancy, childbirth, and care, through the projects included in this budget. In addition, the city will consider gradually expanding major projects by analyzing their outcomes, addressing issues, and collecting citizen feedback.

Mayor Kim Jangho stated, "The supplementary budget was successfully reflected thanks to the formation of public consensus on the increasingly serious low birth rate problem and the active support of the city council," and added, "We will do our best to swiftly allocate the budget where it is needed so that citizens can truly feel and relate to the policies being implemented."