President Lee Jae-myung on the 1st ordered relevant ministries to review moving up the expanded childbirth and childcare payment program to January 1 of next year, addressing controversy over its start date.
At a Cabinet meeting held at Cheong Wa Dae, Lee said the government had decided to sharply increase childbirth payments and child allowances to have the state shoulder more of the childcare burden, with a start date of July 1 next year. "But then people ask what happens to a child born the day before, and whether they should delay giving birth," he said.
Under next year's government budget proposal, a childbirth payment program of up to 20 million won takes effect in July. The payments are 10 million won for a first child, 12 million won for a second child and 15 million won for a third or later child. Because the program starts in July, critics note that a child born on June 30 and a child born on July 1 could receive benefits differing by as much as tens of millions of won, based on a single day.
"When you create a policy, gaps are inevitable between those who benefit and those covered by the previous system," Lee said. "But complaints appear to be arising over what exactly separates June 30 from July 1, and whether this is a matter of administrative convenience." He then proposed: "Even if the system needs preparation, I wonder whether we should apply it from January 1 next year."
Lee added that such problems exist everywhere when a new program is introduced and differences emerge before and after implementation. "But if children are born in the same year, shouldn't they be treated the same?" he asked. He also said the roughly 250 billion won in additional tax revenue needed for the expansion appears to be sufficiently secured.
Health and Welfare Minister Jung Eun-kyeong said the program is based on the Child Allowance Act, and that the ministry plans to submit budget legislation for parliamentary review in the second half. "Adjusting the implementation date or the budget during parliamentary deliberations would require review, and the budget would have to be increased," the minister said.
"But considerable preparation is needed to launch on July 1 next year. It requires a large-scale information system and preparation by local governments," the minister said. "Moving it up and applying it retroactively based on the year of birth appears feasible, so I would suggest discussing it in the National Assembly."
Park Hong-keun, minister of budget and planning, said the issue was less about the budget than about the physical time needed to change and upgrade the system. "If the system alone can be built early, I believe we can fully accomplish this through parliamentary deliberations," he said.
