Family Care Support Surges to 30,000 Cases in Ten Days... Budget Drains if School Opening Delayed

Ministry of Employment Invests 21.3 Billion Won in Reserve Funds to Support Family Care Leave Costs
3,000-4,000 Cases Received Daily... Budget Depletion Realized After 20 Days
Budget Shortage Expected with School Delays or Online Classes... "Execution Monitoring"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] After the government announced that it would provide up to 250,000 won in support funds to workers using family care leave, the number of applicants surged to 30,000 within ten days. With the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, if the April school opening is further postponed or conducted online, the support fund budget is expected to be depleted.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 26th, the number of applications for family care cost support reached a total of 29,129 as of the previous day. The family care cost support project provides up to 250,000 won to workers who have taken family care leave due to illness, accidents, or child-rearing related to COVID-19. Applications began on the 16th, and recently, the number of daily applications surged by 3,000 to 4,000, approaching 30,000 within ten days. Daily application numbers were 3,591 on the 25th, 3,939 on the 24th, and 4,651 on the 23rd.

Originally, family care leave is an unpaid leave that can be used for up to 10 days. However, as the COVID-19 situation prolonged, the Ministry of Employment and Labor decided last month to provide emergency support funds as part of livelihood support measures for workers. This was to reduce the economic burden caused by unpaid leave. Workers raising children aged 8 or younger or in the second grade or below of elementary school can apply for support funds if they used family care leave due to COVID-19. The support fund is paid at 50,000 won per day for up to 5 days, totaling a maximum of 250,000 won. Couples can receive up to 500,000 won combined, and single-parent workers can receive up to 500,000 won for up to 10 days.

Yoo Eun-hye, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education. / Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

The problem is the budget. With the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic causing repeated postponements of kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school openings, the issue of budget depletion is becoming a reality. The Ministry of Employment and Labor allocated 21.3 billion won in contingency funds for the family care cost support project. With 30,000 applications in ten days and assuming each applied for the 250,000 won support, the current expenditure reaches 7.5 billion won. At this rate, calculations show that the budget will be depleted in less than 20 days. The payment period for the support fund is effectively unlimited, stated as "until the COVID-19 situation ends."

If the school opening scheduled for April 6 is postponed again or if the online opening mentioned by the Ministry of Education is implemented simultaneously, budget depletion is inevitable. The Ministry of Education stated the day before, "We are considering a plan to simultaneously promote in-person and online school openings depending on the infection situation." There is concern over budget shortages as schools may close depending on the occurrence of confirmed or contact cases even after school opens.

A Ministry of Employment and Labor official said, "We maintain the policy to pay support funds to the relevant workers within 14 days from the application date," and added, "We are monitoring the budget execution status in real-time." They also stated, "Concerns about budget shortages will be addressed through consultations with related ministries such as the Ministry of Strategy and Finance."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.