The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on December 13 that more than 4,300 applicants have registered for the ‘Seoul Child Care Subsidy’ program in the three months since its initiation. (Image courtesy of Seoul City)
SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Korea Bizwire) – The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on December 13 that more than 4,300 applicants have registered for the ‘Seoul Child Care Subsidy’ program in the three months since its initiation.
This innovative project, launched in September, offers a monthly subsidy of 300,000 won to grandparents and other relatives within the fourth degree of kinship, as well as private caregivers, for taking care of their grandchildren.
As of last month, a total of 3,872 individuals were receiving care subsidies ranging from 300,000 to 600,000 won per month.
According to a monitoring survey conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in October and November among 1,624 recipients, 98 percent recommended the service, while 86.3 percent of the surveyed participants expressed greatest satisfaction in receiving a stipend for caring for their grandchildren.
Additionally, 10.3 percent reported an improvement in the bond and attachment with their grandchildren, and 2.5 percent found the mandatory training to be beneficial.
The success of this program has prompted inquiries from other local governments for policy benchmarking. Gyeonggi Province has announced plans to implement a similar subsidy for relatives caring for children starting next year, and both South Gyeongsang Province and Busan are considering introducing the scheme.
Applications for the ‘Seoul Child Care Subsidy’ are open from the 1st to the 15th of each month through a city government website. The program targets families with a combined income of less than 150 percent of the median income (6,653,000 won per month for a family of three), who are raising a child between 24 and 36 months of age and face a childcare gap due to both parents working.
Families can apply when their child is 23 months old and are eligible to receive 300,000 won per month for each child, up to a maximum of 13 months.
Kim Sun-soon, director of Seoul’s Women and Family Policy Office, stated, “The Seoul Child Care Subsidy program is well-suited to the changing childcare environment, where dual-income parents are becoming more common and grandparents are increasingly involved in childcare. We plan to continue implementing such pioneering care policies in the future.”
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
