Foreign single parents raising child of Korean nationality to get gov't subsidy
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By Jun Ji-hye
Single parents with foreign nationalities, who have not officially married Koreans but are raising a child or children of Korean nationality, will be able to apply for monthly child support expenses from the government beginning next month, according to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Tuesday.
Among the applicants, those who earn less than 52 percent of the median income can receive a government subsidy of 200,000 won ($178) per child each month.
The ministry said the measure, aimed at expanding welfare benefits to multicultural families, was part of revised enforcement ordinances of the Single-Parent Family Support Act that were approved during a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day.
Before the revisions, child support expenses for foreign single parents have been given only to ones who had married Koreans and became a single parent due to divorce or death of their spouse.
Foreign single parents who did not officially marry Koreans have been unable to apply for the subsidy even though they were raising a child or children of Korean nationality.
“The latest revision comes as there have been calls to provide aid to those who have fallen through the cracks of the welfare safety net,” a ministry official said.
The official said the revision will enable immigrants who came to Korea to wed Koreans and then gave birth before marriage but could not marry for reasons such as abandonment by their prospective Koreans spouses, to be given financial support.
The latest measure is expected to benefit about 100 people, the ministry noted, adding that the monthly child support expenses are offered until a child turns 18.
“There may be many more different cases, and the enforcement ordinances would not be able to cover all of the cases. But the latest revision is meaningful in that legal grounds have been prepared to support more foreign single parents who raise Korean children,” the official said.
The revisions also include a measure enabling single parents who receive basic living expenses from the government to be offered additional child-support payments of 100,000 won per child every month.
The basic living expenses have been given to single parents who earn less than 30 percent of the median income. So far, those who receive that subsidy have been unable to simultaneously receive the child-support payments.
Minister of Gender Equality and Family Chung Young-ai said, “The ministry will continue to keenly cooperate with local governments to more actively deal with issues facing single-parent families so they can live a more stable life.”