Ministry of Gender Equality and Family to Increase Family Budget by 20%... Supporting Social Network Formation for Single-Person Households

Next Year's Ministry of Gender Equality and Family 'Family Policy' Budget Confirmed at 885.9 Billion KRW
New Project to Support Social Network Formation for Single-Person Households Launched
'Integrated Childcare Support Platform' Also Begins Construction

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is implementing a social network support project tailored to the life cycle of single-person households and has expanded the budget for parenting education and support for adolescent parents who have been overlooked until now.

On the 14th, the Ministry announced that the 2022 government budget for family policy has been set at 885.9 billion KRW, an increase of 19.8% compared to this year.

To prevent the 32% of all households that are single-person households from falling into isolation or depression, a new social network formation support project will be launched. Customized programs such as self-development and psychological and emotional counseling will be provided through local family centers (12 locations). Young single-person households will receive support for self-care relationship skills and communication and exchange meetings; middle-aged single-person households will be offered education on mutual care and sharing daily life; and elderly single-person households will be supported with psychological counseling and education for preparing a healthy old age, all tailored to each age group.

The construction of an 'Integrated Childcare Support Platform' will also begin to enable more efficient use of childcare services. The platform will provide customized services considering parents' working hours and children's ages, and will allow verification of health-related information such as criminal records or mental illness history of private childcare helpers.

A new budget has been allocated for adolescent parents who have been marginalized in government support. Parenting education services will be provided to adolescent parents struggling with childcare, along with psychological counseling, legal consultation, and litigation representation services. Additionally, the government will cover up to 90% of childcare service costs for low-income adolescent parents.

Furthermore, to enhance the work motivation and self-reliance capabilities of single-parent families, 30% of earned income or business income will be deducted when selected as a low-income single-parent family support recipient. From next year, single parents aged 25 and older will also be eligible. For example, if a two-person household has a monthly earned income of 2.42 million KRW, applying the 30% deduction converts the income to 1.69 million KRW, making them eligible for child-rearing support payments.

To improve accessibility to family services, 12 additional family centers will be established in various regions, expanding from 96 locations this year to 108 next year.

Jeong Young-ae, Minister of Gender Equality and Family, stated, "We will strengthen policies to prevent loneliness and isolation among single-person households, alleviate the burden of child-rearing and care, and support the healthy growth of children in multicultural families, among various family support initiatives."

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