[New Year's Address] Kim Hyun-sook: "Accelerate Policies for Single-Parent Families and Single-Person Households"

Kim Hyun-sook, Minister of Gender Equality and Family, New Year's Address
"Expansion of Support for Single-Parent and Multicultural Families"
"Emergency Care Service Support for Single-Person Households"
"Strengthening Protection and Support for Violence Victims"

Minister of Gender Equality and Family Kim Hyun-sook is delivering a greeting at the '7th Asia Gender Equality Index Awards Ceremony' held on the 19th at Lotte Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] On the 30th, Kim Hyun-sook, Minister of Gender Equality and Family, stated in her New Year's address that she will focus policy capabilities on "expanding thick and detailed policy services" and "responding to future society."

Minister Kim said, "In the second year of the new government, we will do our utmost to swiftly implement the prepared plans so that the public can feel the changes," adding, "We will work with one heart so that each policy promoted by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family resonates with the public and provides practical help in their lives."

First, Minister Kim promised to implement the national agenda of "realizing a society where no family is left behind and everyone participates together." She said, "We will expand the support for child-rearing expenses for single-parent families to up to 60% of the median income," and promised, "The childcare service to address care gaps in dual-income families will support 85,000 households annually with 960 hours each, which is 10,000 more households than last year." She added, "Multicultural families have also moved past the initial settlement phase into the stabilization phase, making support for the children’s generation more important," and pledged to "expand basic learning support and career and employment counseling for children of multicultural families."

Minister Kim continued, "When single-person households need help due to illness or other reasons, we will accompany them to hospitals and implement emergency care services," explaining, "We will expand social network maintenance programs to prevent isolation and loneliness among the elderly, support young people preparing for independent living, and help middle-aged adults prepare for successful retirement, accompanying them at every important stage of life."

Regarding "protection and support for victims of violence," Minister Kim emphasized, "We will make every effort to ensure effective prevention and protection as soon as the Stalking Victim Protection Act is enforced in July this year," and stressed, "Even before the law is enforced, we will expand safe housing and treatment recovery support for victims using emergency temporary shelters and rental housing." She also promised, "For complex cases involving sexual violence and stalking, we will create an 'Integrated Solution Support Team' that provides victim-centered one-stop services and tailored support."

Minister Kim also pledged to enhance "future society responsiveness" in light of the accelerating population cliff, which poses a serious threat to the nation's sustainability. She said, "We will continuously cooperate with each city and provincial office of education and local governments to ensure that measures prepared for 'linking inside and outside schools' and 'expanding support for high-risk youth and out-of-school youth' are implemented without delay," and added, "Special support funds for at-risk youth will be increased to a maximum of 650,000 KRW per month, and self-reliance support allowances for youth leaving shelters will be raised to 400,000 KRW per month to help youth achieve independence and stable living."

She also presented a blueprint for revitalizing women's employment. Minister Kim stated, "We will expand the foundation for gender-equal jobs by reflecting tasks such as improving the gender wage gap through the introduction of the Gender Labor Disclosure System in the 'Basic Plan for Gender Equality Policy (2023?2027),'" emphasizing, "We will expand vocational training courses in promising future industries such as bio and IT that can respond to digital-centered industrial and labor market changes, opening doors for women with career interruptions to enter new occupations."

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