Monthly 300,000 KRW 'Seoul-type Childcare Allowance', More Than Half Received by Maternal Grandmothers

Yonhap News

Among the grandparents participating in the ‘Seoul-type Childcare Allowance’ program, which provides 300,000 KRW per month to grandparents caring for their grandchildren, more than half were maternal grandmothers.

According to the ‘Seoul Women and Family Policy Review’ by the Seoul Foundation of Women and Family on the 6th, 54.0% of the families participating in the Seoul-type Childcare Allowance program had maternal grandmothers as auxiliary caregivers.

Paternal grandmothers accounted for 36.4%, maternal grandfathers 5.9%, and paternal grandfathers 3.8% in that order.

This is based on an online survey conducted from July 23 to August 13 last year, involving 1,109 cases where grandparents participated as auxiliary caregivers (631 parents, 478 grandparents).

When investigating the time grandparents spent caring for their grandchildren, ‘before and after drop-off and pick-up at daycare centers or other childcare institutions’ (before and after parents’ commuting) was the most common at 70.4%. ‘Whenever needed’ was 19.3%, ‘all day’ 8.1%, and others 2.2%.

When parents were asked the reasons (multiple responses allowed) for entrusting childcare to grandparents, the most common answer was ‘because they do not trust professional babysitters’ at 48%. This was followed by ‘because there is no one else to ask for help in urgent situations’ at 46.4%, and ‘because it is difficult to raise children alone’ at 45.6%.

The report stated, “Grandparents have no choice but to start caring for their grandchildren to support the working lives of caregivers,” and suggested, “Activating work hour reduction and flexible work arrangements will be a fundamental solution.”

It also added, “The Seoul-type Childcare Allowance program only targets infants aged 0-2 years, so it does not sufficiently reflect the reality of grandparents supporting childcare until children reach early elementary school years,” and emphasized, “There is a need to expand the program’s target and duration.”

Since September 2023, the city has been operating the Seoul-type Childcare Allowance program, which provides financial support when relatives within the fourth degree of kinship assist in raising infants aged 0-2 years for more than 40 hours per month. However, the parents and children must live in Seoul and belong to so-called ‘childcare gap’ families, such as dual-income, multi-child, or single-parent households, with a median income of 150% or less. For dual-income families, 25% of the combined income of the couple is deducted and reflected. Auxiliary caregivers such as grandparents receive 300,000 KRW per month for caring for one infant, 450,000 KRW for two, and 600,000 KRW for three.