The COVID-19 Widened 'Child Gap'... The State Takes Responsibility for Vulnerable Groups

Child Policy Coordination Committee Meeting on the 13th
Deliberation and Confirmation of 'Yoon Seok-yeol Government's Child Policy Promotion Plan'

The Yoon Suk-yeol administration is taking steps to address the 'child disparity' caused by COVID-19. The main focus is on enhancing the quality of childcare and medical support services to back smooth development and learning capacity strengthening. In particular, the system will be changed so that vulnerable children belonging to households receiving basic livelihood security, or those who are adopted, under protection, or unregistered at birth, are responsibly protected by the state and society.

On the 13th, the government held the Child Policy Coordination Committee chaired by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu. This was the first committee meeting since the new government took office, and the 'Yoon Suk-yeol Government Child Policy Promotion Plan' was reviewed and finalized. The plan reflects the Yoon administration's national philosophy of 'providing fair opportunities to future generations' and 'strengthening welfare for the vulnerable,' and presents tasks and implementation plans through 2027. The main content addresses solutions to three issues: developmental delays and learning deficits worsened by COVID-19, the lives of vulnerable children, and mental health risks.

Focused Investment on All Children's Development and Growth... Full Effort to "Reduce Learning Gaps"

According to the plan, the government will expand the number of Dudream Schools from 6,000 to all elementary, middle, and high schools (12,000 schools) by 2027 to reduce learning gaps. Dudream Schools are an educational model that provides integrated learning guidance and emotional-behavioral counseling for children with learning difficulties. The 'Neulbom School,' which offers education and care before and after elementary school classes, will be expanded nationwide by 2025. Especially, the number of users of the childcare service, currently used by about 80,000 households, will be increased more than threefold. Various support policies concentrated on families with three or more children will be lowered to include families with two or more children.

The background for the government’s policy push is the awareness that the quality of life between general children and vulnerable children has clearly diverged due to COVID-19. According to last year’s Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, non-poor children increased their time in private education, while poor children increased their smartphone usage time. Good Neighbors released a report showing that poor children experienced depression, care gaps, and corporal punishment more frequently. The number of students failing basic math and English skills, as compiled by the Ministry of Education, has increased about two to three times during the COVID-19 period.

On the medical side, the burden rate for hospitalization expenses for children under 24 months will be reduced from the current 5% to 0%. Medical expenses for premature and congenital anomaly infants, previously supported only for households with income below 180% of the median income, will now be supported regardless of income level. Kim Ji-yeon, Director of Child Welfare Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, explained, "For premature infants, support can reach 5 to 10 million KRW, and for congenital anomaly infants, surgery costs up to 5 million KRW, with combined support up to 15 million KRW." The 'Early Life Health Management Project,' where professionals visit newborn families, will be expanded nationwide by 2027. Expansion of pediatric specialized emergency medical centers, regional pediatric cancer hospitals, and medical service infrastructure for severe and emergency child patients will also be carried out.

Strengthening Welfare System for Vulnerable Children... Raising State Responsibility

Welfare support will be concentrated on vulnerable children. For the Child Development Support Account (Didim Seed Bank), where the government matches twice the amount saved by the child, the age eligibility will be gradually relaxed. Currently, all ages of children under protection and children aged 12 or older in basic livelihood security households can enroll, but the enrollment criteria will be expanded step-by-step considering age fairness. For foster children, the government plans to identify necessary support items to improve care services and growth and development. Additionally, a survey on the actual conditions and welfare service needs of children in crisis households who have difficulty receiving proper care due to guardians’ illness or disability will be conducted within this year.

The welfare system for vulnerable children will also be changed. The core is to strengthen state responsibility. First, ratification of the Hague International Child Adoption Convention will be pursued. The Hague Convention is a multilateral agreement where the state is responsible for assessing the suitability of adoptive parents. In Korea, private institutions currently assess parental suitability, but going forward, the state will directly perform this to protect adopted children. The introduction of the 'Medical Institution Birth Notification System' to prevent unregistered births and the 'Protected Birth System,' where children born anonymously are protected by local governments, will also be considered. The enactment of the 'Basic Child Act,' which specifies children's rights and state responsibilities, will also be pursued.

Focused Identification of Children at Risk of Abuse... Strengthening Support Services for Abused Children

At the committee meeting, the 'Plan to Strengthen Identification and Protection of Children at Risk or Victims of Abuse' and the 'Improvement Plan for the Guardianship System for Children under Protection' were also discussed. The government will focus on identifying children under 2 years old at risk of abuse, who have a low detection rate and a high proportion of fatal cases. Starting from the 17th, about 11,000 children under 2 years old who have not received mandatory vaccinations or have not visited a hospital in the past year will be the focus of intensive investigation.

For children under protection, temporary legal guardianship will be granted to foster parents to resolve guardianship gaps. Until now, children under protection faced difficulties with hospital admission and discharge, surgery, bank account opening, and mobile phone activation due to the absence of legal guardians. Therefore, the appointment of guardians will be actively requested by mayors and district heads rather than caregivers, and related procedures will be established. Abandoned children will be automatically assigned guardians by local governments. Starting in the second half of this year, a pilot project for 'public guardians' will also begin for children under protection who have inherited parental debts or have disabilities.

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