Daejeon City Sets Child Meal Price at '8000 Won'... Highest Among Metropolitan Local Governments

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Daejeon City will raise the usage unit price of the child meal card provided to children at risk of food insecurity from the current 6,000 won to 8,000 won.

The city announced on the 26th that it will increase the child meal unit price by 2,000 won this year while also raising the daily payment limit from the current 12,000 won to 30,000 won.

The increased child meal unit price is the highest among metropolitan local governments and is 1,000 won more than the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s recommended unit price of 7,000 won.

The child meal benefits will be provided to 13,977 children, including basic livelihood security recipients and single-parent families.

The city has also significantly increased the number of affiliated stores for the meal card, expanding the range of options for using child meal services. The number of affiliated stores increased by 25,840, from 1,588 as of July last year to 27,428 as of February this year.

The city explained that this was thanks to system improvements allowing card use at restaurants affiliated with BC Card merchants.

It is analyzed that the quality of child meals has also improved as the number of affiliated stores increased. For example, as of March last year, about 70% of child meal users relied on convenience stores for their meals.

However, an analysis of usage this year showed that as of last month, the convenience store usage rate dropped to 36%, while the usage rate at regular restaurants increased to 64%.

This is interpreted as meaning that, in line with the original purpose of the project, child meal recipients can now enjoy balanced meals at various regular restaurants with the increased unit price.

The city plans to consider applying differentiated child meal unit prices by age group in the future, with 8,000 won for elementary and middle school students and 9,000 won for high school students.

Kang Byung-seon, head of the city’s Family Care Division, said, “By raising the child meal unit price to reflect inflation, we expect the quality of meals to have improved. The city will strive to provide local children with diverse and hearty meals through the realization of the child meal unit price.”

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