Seoul City to Raise Meal Allowance for Food-Insecure Children from 7,000 Won to 8,000 Won Starting August

Supplementary Budget Reflected to Improve Nutrition for Low-Income Food-Insecure Children... Support Starting in August

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 7th that it will raise the meal allowance for children at risk of food insecurity from 7,000 won to 8,000 won starting in August, reflecting the recent surge in dining-out prices.

The existing meal allowance of 7,000 won for children at risk of food insecurity in Seoul is not lower than the recommended amount by the Ministry of Health and Welfare's Child Meal Support Unit. However, considering the dining-out prices in the Seoul area, it was pointed out that this amount is relatively low to provide quality meals.

Accordingly, Seoul included this increase in the supplementary budget to address the nutritional imbalance issues among low-income children amid the ongoing COVID-19 situation. The child meal support project is jointly funded by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, autonomous districts, and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. This year, the fixed budget for child meal support in Seoul is 27.2 billion won (based on city funds), and the second supplementary budget includes an additional 1.27 billion won in city funds for the meal allowance increase.

There are approximately 30,000 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 be applied to all these meal support methods, enabling children to receive higher-quality meals.

Meanwhile, following the expansion in April last year allowing child meal cards to be used at general restaurants affiliated with Shinhan Card companies located in Seoul, starting August 1 this year, the Seoul Metropolitan Government is supporting the use of child meal cards at food courts in 30 Emart stores within Seoul.

Kim Seon-soon, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Women and Family Policy Office, said, “With this increase in the meal allowance, we hope that children at risk of food insecurity during their growth period will grow up healthily through more nutritious meals.” She added, “We will continue to make multifaceted efforts to ensure that support for children at risk of food insecurity is sufficient so that they can grow up happily and healthily.”

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