Chungnam. Female Farmers and Fishermen ‘Happiness Voucher’ No Self-Payment, Expanded Eligibility

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Chungnam Province will eliminate the self-payment cost for the Happiness Voucher support for women farmers and fishermen and expand the eligible recipients.

According to the province on the 17th, the Happiness Voucher is a program that supports health care and cultural activity expenses to improve the welfare and quality of life of women farmers and fishermen living in rural areas.

Until now, the province has provided a cash card loaded with 200,000 KRW, of which women farmers and fishermen paid 30,000 KRW and the province added 170,000 KRW.

However, starting this year, the province explained that the full 200,000 KRW will be provided as a subsidy without any self-payment, and recipients can receive it on a card as before.

The scope of Happiness Voucher beneficiaries will also be expanded. Until last year, support was only given to "women farmers and fishermen residing in rural areas within the province," but now it will be extended to all women farmers and fishermen residing within the province to ensure fair distribution.

On this basis, any woman farmer or fisherman residing in Chungnam who actually engages in farming and belongs to a household with less than 50,000㎡ of farmland ownership (combined household members) or an equivalent livestock or fishery management household can receive Happiness Voucher support.

With the expansion of the support scope, the province expects the number of Happiness Voucher beneficiaries to increase by about 10,000 people compared to last year.

In addition, the province improved the issuance locations of the Happiness Voucher, which were previously limited to 61 Nonghyup Bank branches, so that starting this year, it can be issued at 195 branches of agricultural and livestock cooperatives in 15 cities and counties.

Applications for Happiness Voucher support will be accepted for one month from the 17th of this month at the resident centers of the applicant’s respective eup, myeon, or dong.

A provincial official said, “The Happiness Voucher program is promoted to improve the quality of life of women farmers and fishermen who have to juggle farm work and housework,” and added, “We ask eligible recipients to complete their applications within the application period to ensure they are not omitted from the beneficiary list.”

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