Gwangju City Provides Sanitary Product Vouchers for Vulnerable Female Adolescents

14,000 KRW Per Person Per Month Provided Until Age 24

Poster for the Menstrual Product Support Project for Female Adolescents. Provided by Gwangju City.

Gwangju City announced on the 30th that it is accepting applications for the 'Sanitary Product Voucher Support' program, which aims to support the healthy growth of vulnerable female adolescents and alleviate their financial burden.

The sanitary product voucher support project is available to female adolescents aged 9 to 24 who are recipients of livelihood, medical, housing, or education benefits under the National Basic Living Security Act, as well as legal second-lowest income groups and single-parent families under the Single-Parent Family Support Act.

In particular, starting this year, the amount of support for sanitary product vouchers has been increased to 14,000 KRW per person per month (up to 168,000 KRW per year), allowing individuals to freely purchase sanitary products according to their needs and preferences.

The voucher is provided from the month of application, and once applied, recipients can continue to receive support until the age of 24 without having to reapply each year, as long as their eligibility remains unchanged.

Applications can be made by the adolescent herself or by a guardian (parent or primary caregiver) by visiting a local administrative welfare center, or online via the Bokjiro website or app. While in-person applications previously required visiting the administrative welfare center in one's residential area, starting this year, applications can also be made at any nearby administrative welfare center.

Once selected as a beneficiary, sanitary products can be purchased at designated on- and offline retailers using the National Happiness Card in the name of the adolescent or guardian, depending on the card issuer. However, the voucher can only be used within the given year, and any unused balance will expire and cannot be carried over, so it must be used by December 31.

Lee Youngdong, Director of the Department of Women and Family, stated, "The sanitary product voucher support project is a program that supports the healthy growth of vulnerable female adolescents and helps alleviate their financial burden," adding, "We will actively promote the program to ensure that no eligible individuals miss out on these benefits due to lack of information."