[2024 Budget] Special Supply for Childbirth Households... Priority Allocation for Rental Apartments

Low-Interest Didimdol Loans Available for Income up to 130 Million Won
Paid Parental Leave Extended from 12 to 18 Months

Households with newborns earning less than 130 million KRW annually will be able to receive loans of up to 500 million KRW at interest rates 1-3 percentage points lower than market rates when purchasing a home or securing jeonse (long-term deposit) funds. Additionally, a special supply for childbirth households will be newly established, allowing them to purchase apartments under favorable conditions and receive priority allocation for rental apartments.

According to the '2024 Budget Plan' announced by the government on the 29th, the government plans to allocate 8.9732 trillion KRW, an increase of 2.0852 trillion KRW from this year’s budget, to strengthen housing stability for childbirth households. The policy loan support amount for housing and jeonse funds for households with newborns within two years of childbirth will be expanded. Specifically, income eligibility for low-interest loans such as the Didimdol Loan, which can be used when purchasing a home, will be significantly relaxed (from 70 million KRW to 130 million KRW). A new special supply type for newborn childbirth households will be created so that they do not have to compete with single youth or non-childbearing newlyweds. This is based on the diagnosis that housing stability is the key solution to the low birthrate problem.

A budget of 2.2 trillion KRW will be invested in support for work-childcare balance, including the first-ever extension of paid parental leave by six months. This is an increase of 400 billion KRW from this year’s budget. The paid parental leave period, currently 12 months, will be extended to 18 months, and 300 billion KRW will be invested to raise the joint leave pay incentive for both parents from 3 million KRW to 4.5 million KRW. It was judged that creating an environment where parents can directly care for their children would reduce the burden of childbirth and parenting. For newborn fathers’ caregiving, the spousal childbirth leave pay period for workers in small and medium-sized enterprises will be extended from 5 days to 10 days. A budget of 1.3 billion KRW has been allocated for this.

To reduce the burden of childcare costs, including the expansion of parental benefits, 2.7 trillion KRW will be invested. To ease initial childcare burdens, 700 billion KRW has been allocated to expand parental benefit payments for households with children aged 0-1 up to a maximum of 1 million KRW. Currently, parental benefits for children aged 0 are increased from 700,000 KRW to 1 million KRW per month, and for children aged 1, from 350,000 KRW to 500,000 KRW per month. To expand childcare infrastructure, 3.7 trillion KRW will be invested, an increase of 300 billion KRW from this year. Of this, 200 billion KRW will be used to add childcare fee support for infant classes in under-enrolled daycare centers, and 24.6 billion KRW will be invested to double the number of institutions providing part-time childcare to ease the caregiving burden on dual-income couples.

The budget for supporting childbirth in infertile households has been nearly doubled from this year to 28.7 billion KRW. The main focus is on strengthening new support such as infertility examinations and procedures for households wishing to conceive and give birth. 6.3 billion KRW has been newly allocated for fertility pre-screening, 600 million KRW for assisted reproductive technology using frozen eggs, and 3.7 billion KRW for infertility treatment leave pay for workers in small and medium-sized enterprises. Additionally, 6.8 billion KRW, double the current amount, will be invested in a project to abolish income requirements for medical expense support for high-risk pregnant women.

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