Seoul City Provides First Support for 'Parent Self-Help Groups for Infants and Toddlers' to Alleviate Isolated Childcare... Applications Open Until the 20th

Support of 400,000 KRW for Activity Expenses of 200 Groups, Customized Education, and Expert Childcare Counseling

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] To alleviate the difficulties of isolation and sole parenting caused by dual-income families and nuclear family structures, Seoul City is launching the "Co-parenting Support Project" this year for the first time, which supports "self-help groups of parents with infants and toddlers" that have naturally formed around us.

On the 2nd, Seoul City announced that it will conduct an online recruitment until the 20th to support 200 self-help groups composed of infants and toddlers under the age of 6 and their parents with an activity fund of 400,000 KRW (Clean Card) and childcare professional services. By recruiting and supporting 200 self-help groups with more than five participating households, the city plans to actively support parent groups who want to raise children together and escape isolated parenting by understanding the difficulties of parents raising children and the demands on the ground.

The selected self-help groups of parents with infants and toddlers will be allowed to operate autonomously, and the provided Clean Card can be used for places necessary for co-parenting activities and other parent self-help group activities. The activity fund can be used for transportation costs, snack expenses, book fees, material costs, instructor fees, program participation fees, etc., required for co-parenting-related online and offline activities (at least once a month).

In addition, childcare professional services such as providing childcare-related information, customized parenting education, strengthening the cohesion among members of the parent self-help groups, and childcare counseling by psychological and parenting experts to solve parenting difficulties will be provided to the selected parent self-help groups. Along with this, by utilizing the "Co-parenting Room," a "rest space" will be provided for children and parents, and various programs necessary for co-parenting will be discovered and supported.

Applications can be submitted via email to the Seoul Childcare Comprehensive Support Center. The application form download and detailed information required for the application can be found on the Seoul Childcare Comprehensive Support Center website.

Kim Seon-soon, Director of the Seoul City Women and Family Policy Office, said, "The ongoing spread of COVID-19 has further intensified the isolation and burden of raising infants and toddlers. At times like this, creating parent self-help groups that raise children together and sharing empathy and support among members can be a great driving force for difficult and challenging parenting." She added, "We will do our best to create a child-friendly environment by supporting the spontaneous group activities of parents currently experiencing the difficulties of isolated parenting."

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