Streets bustle with people in the popular nightlife district of Hongdae, western Seoul, on April 17, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — The Ministry of Gender, Equality and Family on Thursday announced plans to support various forms of family, including single-person households.
The plan seeks to provide hospital escorts and emergency care services for single-person households through local family centers, and ensure a child’s rearing expenses are paid for.
There are 244 family centers set up throughout the country, offering family counseling, education on family relations and support for families with single parents and other vulnerable groups.
The ministry plans to introduce hospital escort and emergency care services for single-person households through these family centers, covering young individuals with leg injuries as well as seniors with chronic diseases.
“The hospital escort service will be available for any member of a single-person household that needs to go to the hospital,” the government said.
Currently, 12 family centers across the country have been trying out policies to support single-person households. Next year, up to 24 centers will provide support for single-person households.
The center will run communities for families looking after senior parents, as well as counseling programs for grandparents looking after their grandchildren.
The government will increase the number of family centers that provide support for ensuring the payment of a child’s rearing expenses, and offer engagement services between a child and a parent without custody from 14 to 18 next year.
The scope of age eligibility for a two-language family environment program for multicultural children will go beyond the original limit of infants to encompass children under 12 years of age.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
