Starting 2024, parents of infants will receive 1 million won monthly childcare subsidy

Ahn Cheol-soo, chairman of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's transition committee, gives a presentation of the incoming Yoon Suk-yeol government's 110 policy proposals, during a press conference in Seoul's Jongno District, Tuesday. Joint Press Corps

Transition committee unveils 110 policy proposals

By Jung Da-min

Parents with infants who are 11 months old or younger will receive a monthly financial subsidy of 1 million won ($789) starting in 2024, according to Ahn Cheol-soo, chairman of the presidential transition committee, Tuesday.

The subsidy for parents of infants, aimed at stopping the nation's falling birthrate, is one of the 110 policy proposals unveiled by the transition committee for the incoming Yoon Suk-yeol government during a press conference held at the committee's office in central Seoul.

The 1 million won support for infants and their parents was included as part of a welfare policy for socially vulnerable groups, including low income earners, children, the elderly and the disabled, aimed at improving income inequality.

Starting next year, parents of infants will be given 700,000 won per month, and the amount will increase to 1 million by 2024.

To alleviate elderly poverty, the committee also pledged to increase the basic pension for senior citizens gradually to 400,000 won from the current 300,000 won.

Ahn also emphasized the need to seek balanced development among provincial cities, saying the increasing economic gap between regions has been one of the fundamental causes for the low birth rate issue.

As for the country's current situation, Ahn said Korea is unique in that those born when it was still a developing country and those born after it became a developed country are living together. He said it is important for the government to break away from the old ways of prioritizing the national interest over individuals.

Ahn also presented six major goals relating to the national tasks of the upcoming administration, which includes: restoring common sense and justice; fostering a dynamic economy led by the private sector with support from the government; fostering an inclusive society that embraces the socially vulnerable; creating an innovative future based on freedom and creativity; becoming a global hub promoting the values of freedom, peace and prosperity; and becoming a country with balanced regional development.

The other major tasks included expanding support for small business owners who suffered losses due to COVID-19 pandemic, expanding the housing supply and scrapping the nuclear power phase-out policy, all of which have been election pledges of Yoon.

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