By Lee Kyung-min
About 50,000 low-income women will be given up to 1.5 million won ($1,300) each in a maternity payout, and the number of children eligible for state-run childcare services will be doubled. The payout ceiling for fathers who take paternity leave will be increased to 2.5 million won from the current 2 million and the medical cost for children aged under 12 months will be reduced by up to 66 percent.
The Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy unveiled the measures to encourage couples between 20 and 49 to have children by subsidizing part of the childrearing costs amid the plummeting birthrate.
The full implementation of the plan, however, will face an uphill battle as the 900 billion-won government initiative will require revision to the current laws, without which changes will remain minimal to none.
The new measure seeks to induce change from the parents by helping increase the quality of life for caregivers, a major shift from the earlier drive which critics said “obsessed” over the rapidly falling birthrate. Statistics Korea showed the number of newborns was 357,700 last year, an 11.9 percent drop from a year earlier. The downward trend over the past two decades is expected to further continue with the country's birthrate dropping below one.
The government expanded maternity benefits for the 50,000 women reflecting concerns that they were discriminated against because their limited access to state employment insurance does not give them the same welfare benefits granted to their salaried counterparts.
The government will bear more medical costs for pregnant women and children under 1 year. The balance of the state-sponsored debit card will be increased by 100,000 won for pregnant women _ to 600,000 won for women with one child and 1 million won for women with two or more.
The restriction on the available use of the card will be extended from the current 60 days to 1 year after the birth. Parents will be able to use the card to cover medical costs for their children, a change from the status quo where only obstetrician-gynecologist (ob/gyn) treatments were covered. The out-of-pocket amount paid by parents with a one-year-old or younger will be reduced to 56,000 won from the 165,000 won as the state-run National Healthcare Insurance Service (NHIS) will pay more of the cost.
The income limit for parents eligible for state-sponsored childcare service will be increased to those who earn 150 percent of the median income from the current 120 percent, allowing eligibility to 3-member households earning below 5.53 million won per month from the current 4.42 million won per month.
The government will hire up to 43,000 childcare instructors, nearly twice the current number at 23,000. Children eligible for the program will also be doubled to 180,000 from the current 90,000 by 2022.
Fathers will be able to claim up to 500,000 won more per month in paternity leave payout. Fathers will be given the full amount of their regular monthly wage for the first three months of leave. The government will seek a revision to the law to allow both parents to take leave so they can take care of their children. The measure seeks to allow families to have a stress-free period in childrearing by scrapping the current law under which employers of a worker whose spouse is already on leave can deny the leave request.
“The government will seek stern enforcement and efficient implementation of the current law instead of making new guidelines,” a ministry official said. More measures will be unveiled by October on specific ways to remove the social stigma of single parents and provide housing support for newlyweds following further deliberation.