Additional Measures for Low Birthrate Announced... "Mandatory Investigation of Wedding Companies and Priority for Public Rental Housing to Childbearing Families"

The government has announced follow-up measures to enhance the effectiveness of the "Measures to Reverse the Low Birthrate Trend" announced last June. The key points include expanding support criteria for households with children to encourage childbirth and launching investigations into wedding companies that increase the burden of marriage.

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On the 29th, the Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy (PCASP), the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Fair Trade Commission, and other related ministries held the 2nd Emergency Population Countermeasures Meeting to review the implementation status of the "Measures to Reverse the Low Birthrate Trend" announced last month and to announce additional measures. At the meeting, they reviewed the implementation status of the measures and considered additional measures prepared by collecting voices from the field. Yu Hyemi, the newly appointed Senior Secretary for Low Birthrate Response at the Presidential Office as of the 25th, also attended the meeting.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to prioritize households with children for public construction rental housing by selecting them as the first priority without going through the point system. Currently, priority recipients are selected through a point system.

The Fair Trade Commission has decided to conduct an ex officio investigation into wedding preparation agencies. Recently, complaints have increased due to issues such as excessive cancellation fees and bundled services during wedding contract cancellations, prompting the government to take countermeasures. The government plans to conduct an ex officio investigation, including reviewing the terms and conditions of wedding preparation agencies.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor will increase the central government’s substitute labor support fund from 800,000 KRW to 1,200,000 KRW per month to reduce the burden on employers, addressing the difficulty small and medium-sized enterprises face in hiring substitute workers. Local governments will promote providing direct incentives to substitute workers.

Among the 151 tasks announced last month, the government plans to submit legislative amendments to the regular National Assembly session in September, and to prepare revision bills for government-level measures such as enforcement decrees by next month to complete them within the year.

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