All Korean households with kindergarten children aged between 3 and 5 will be paid 220,000 won ($196) per child every month starting next year, under a government drive to expand public welfare benefits and help families lessen childcare burden, officials said Wednesday.
Under the plan announced by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the monthly childcare subsidy for families with 5-year-olds attending kindergarten or daycare centers will rise by 20,000 won per child from the current 200,000 won.
The monthly childcare subsidy will also be available to all families with 3 to 4-year-olds as the government will scrap the current system that limits the benefit to families whose incomes are in the bottom 70 percent, said the officials.
Young children not at kindergarten or daycare centers will not be covered by the subsidy program.
The ministry said state-sponsored scholarships for college students will also increase by 500 billion won to 2.25 trillion won next year, in a move aimed at reducing the burden of heavy tuition fees. (Yonhap)