Born in Incheon, 100 million KRW support until age 18... 500,000 KRW transportation allowance for pregnant women

Incheon-Type Birth Policy '1 Billion + i dream' Announced
Additional 280 Million KRW Including Child Allowance for Ages 8-18 on Top of Existing 720 Million KRW Support

Incheon City is promoting a birth policy that provides a total of 100 million won in support for every child born in Incheon until they reach 18 years of age.

On the 18th, Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok of Incheon announced the '100 Million Plus i dream' policy containing these details. This policy supports all growth stages continuously from fetus to 18 years old, going beyond simply increasing subsidies to complement blind spots in national policies and expand support where it is most needed.

The city will add 28 million won in support, including the Angel (10.4 million won) subsidy, i dream allowance, and transportation expenses for pregnant women, to the currently provided 72 million won covering parental benefits, child allowances, first meeting vouchers, and education expenses for elementary, middle, and high school. First, the Angel subsidy, totaling 10.4 million won, consists of a 2 million won first meeting voucher celebrating the child's birth and 8.4 million won paid as 1.2 million won annually from ages 1 to 7. This will be implemented starting with children born in 2023 who turn 1 year old next year.

The i dream allowance is the nation's first cash allowance established for the entire school-age period from 8 to 18 years old. Currently, the government and local governments provide a monthly child allowance of 100,000 won from ages 0 to 7, but cash support ends at age 8, increasing the burden of child-rearing costs. This policy addresses that gap.

The city plans to provide 150,000 won monthly, totaling 19.8 million won, starting from the year children born next year turn 8. For children already born who are reaching age 8, a phased plan to provide monthly support of 50,000 to 100,000 won is underway. Children born in 2016, turning 8 next year, will receive 50,000 won monthly totaling 6.6 million won, and those born in 2020 will receive 100,000 won monthly totaling 13.2 million won.

Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok is holding a press conference on the 18th to announce the '100 Million Plus i Dream' policy.
[Photo provided by Incheon City]

Additionally, a new transportation expense of 500,000 won (one-time) will be provided to facilitate mobility for pregnant women. Along with this, depending on individual circumstances and conditions, customized support of up to 340 million won will be provided, including existing support programs, the 100 Million Plus i dream project, and postpartum care cost support.

Since the city has secured the budget for expanding birth support for next year, it plans to complete administrative procedures such as social security system consultations as soon as possible.

On this day, while announcing Incheon City's birth policy, Mayor Yoo emphasized that there are clear limits to innovation by local governments alone and strongly urged a major shift in birth policies at the central government level.

He proposed establishing a so-called 'Chief of Population Policy' at the Presidential Office and creating a so-called 'Population Policy Office' under the Prime Minister's Office to oversee birth policies. He also suggested creating a special low birthrate overcoming fund financed partly by local education finance grants, introducing a national housing responsibility system and bold housing policies such as long-term mortgage loans, and preparing comprehensive national measures for bold immigrant acceptance and return migration policies for overseas Koreans.

Mayor Yoo stated, "Despite the government investing huge budgets, it has not effectively increased the birthrate. Since it has been confirmed that conventional policies cannot overcome low birthrates, Incheon City will implement the bold and innovative Incheon-type birth policy, '100 Million Plus i dream,' starting next year."

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