Daegu City Council Member Jeong Ilgyun Urges Introduction of Allowance for Grandparents Caring for Grandchildren in Five-Minute Speech

Daegu City Council member Jeong Ilgyun (People Power Party, Suseong-gu 1) is scheduled to deliver a five-minute free speech urging the introduction of the 'Grandparent Grandchild Care Allowance' system at the 2nd plenary session of the 316th extraordinary session on the 22nd.

Last month, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) expressed deep concern about South Korea's low birth rate issue in its report titled 'Korea's Unborn Future.' According to the report, South Korea's total fertility rate is the lowest in the world, and if the current birth rate continues, there is a shocking projection that the population will decrease to less than half within 60 years.

Daegu City Council member Jeong Ilgyun

Jeong stated, "As the national population crisis becomes more severe, Daegu City must actively pursue more effective policies throughout the entire life cycle, from marriage to child-rearing," emphasizing, "In particular, during the child-rearing stage, which takes the longest time, it is necessary to introduce the 'Grandparent Grandchild Care Allowance.'"

The 'Grandparent Grandchild Care Allowance' is a system that recognizes and provides economic support for grandparents' care of their grandchildren as labor with social value, not just as family assistance, in response to the normalization of grandparent caregiving due to the increase in dual-income families and the emergence of the term 'twilight parenting.'

Jeong explained, "The 'Grandparent Grandchild Care Allowance' is a win-win-win policy that reduces the childcare burden for parents, provides economic support and social recognition for grandparents, and offers children stable care in a warm emotional environment," adding, "Several local governments have already implemented practical measures related to the Grandparent Grandchild Care Allowance to ease the childcare burden."

Jeong further stated, "There are still many couples in our society who hesitate to have children due to the difficulties of child-rearing," and emphasized, "Since the 'Grandparent Grandchild Care Allowance' was selected this year as an excellent local government response case by the Presidential Committee on Low Fertility and Aging Society, I hope Daegu City will promptly introduce this system and actively respond to the changing childcare environment."