Seoul City to Raise Meal Allowance for Food-Insecure Children from 6,000 Won to 7,000 Won Starting July

Prolonged COVID-19 Situation, Supplementary Budget Reflected to Improve Nutrition for Low-Income Children

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 4th that it will raise the meal allowance for children at risk of food insecurity from 6,000 won to 7,000 won starting in July, following a significant expansion of eligible general restaurants from 7,000 to about 90,000 in April.

The previous meal allowance of 6,000 won was considered relatively low for providing quality meals, given the dining prices in Seoul. The Seoul Association of District Mayors also requested an increase in the standard allowance to reflect current realities, and the Seoul Metropolitan Government included this in the supplementary budget to address nutritional imbalances among low-income children amid the prolonged COVID-19 situation.

There are about 31,000 children at risk of food insecurity in Seoul, who receive meal support through child meal cards, local children's centers, and lunchbox delivery services. The increased meal allowance will apply to all these support methods, enabling children to receive higher quality meals.

Seoul plans to allow the use of child meal cards at food courts in large marts such as E-Mart and Lotte Mart in the future.

Song Jun-seo, Seoul’s Family Affairs Officer, said, “With this increase in the meal allowance, we hope children at risk of food insecurity can grow up healthily by having more nutritious meals,” adding, “We will continue to make multifaceted efforts to ensure there is no shortage in support for children at risk of food insecurity.”

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