Minister Jeong Young-ae Visits Families of Adolescent Parents to Hear Their Opinions

Minister Jeong: "We Will Strive to Provide Multifaceted Support for Youth Parents in Childcare, Housing, and Employment"

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] On the afternoon of the 28th, Jeong Young-ae, Minister of Gender Equality and Family, visited families with adolescent parents to hear about difficulties in child-rearing and employment.

Minister Jeong arranged this visit following the establishment of the '4th Basic Plan for Healthy Families' on the 27th, aiming to directly observe the challenges faced by diverse families on-site and gather opinions on necessary support policies.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family decided in the basic plan to provide support services such as childcare for adolescent parents, assistance for continuing education and qualification exams, and education and consulting for child-rearing. Going forward, through consultations with related ministries, they plan to strengthen support for adolescent parents by establishing and implementing annual action plans.

Adolescent parents raising children are prone to poor living conditions such as school dropout, low-wage labor income and unemployment, and unstable housing. Accordingly, in March, the Ministry amended the Youth Welfare Support Act to define adolescent parents as ‘persons where both parents raising a child are adolescents’ and created a legal basis to provide family support services (child-rearing, parental education), welfare support (housing, medical support), and educational support (tuition, qualification exam assistance). Detailed support measures will be included in the enforcement decree after consultations with related ministries.

Jeong Young-ae, Minister of Gender Equality and Family, stated, "Adolescent parents are in a unique situation as ‘child caregivers’ while also being ‘adolescents in their growth phase’ who must prepare for independence through education and employment. Necessary support must be provided considering this uniqueness," and added, "We will strive to prepare multifaceted support measures such as child-rearing support, housing support, and education and employment assistance for adolescent parents."

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