<Anchor>
Friendly economy, starting today (21st), we will be with reporter Kim Hye-min of the Ministry of Economy.
Reporter Kim, welcome.
The beginning is half, but what kind of first news did you prepare for today?
<Reporter>
Yes, the government announced a policy like this that it will give this much more subsidies if you have a child. Today, I want to explain this in detail.
<Anchor>
I think it would be good if newlyweds mainly listen. What is the content?
<Reporter> The
first thing to keep in mind is that this policy will take effect in 2022.
It is mainly targeted at very young infants, so parents with older children may be excluded from this policy.
It is interpreted that the government gives the newlyweds a signal such as, "We will increase support like this, so have more children in the future."
In particular, this measure is focused on giving more money, that is, subsidy.
<Anchor> In
fact, there have been a lot of countermeasures against low birthrates, but what are some of the outstanding countermeasures different from before?
<Reporter>
Yes.
I looked at the data and found that there is a '3+3' parental leave system. If a mother and father use parental leave for three months, the government provides subsidies accordingly.
You can get 2 million won in the first month, 2.5 million won in the next month, and 3 million won in the third month. This is the amount each couple receives separately. If you add up, you can get up to 15 million won .
It is said that the policy was created to encourage parental leave for not only mothers but also fathers, and there is no need for a couple to use this at the same time.
You only need to use it until your child is 12 months old.
<Anchor>
If you use it in three months for a child until it turns into a stone, you will be given money like this. This is a story, but it seems that there are still quite a few cases where men notice the company.
<Reporter>
Yes.
In fact, that is the biggest stumbling block.
No matter how much money the government gives, there are still a lot more companies that don't like taking parental leave for men other than women.
I also received reports about this male parental leave several times, and when I applied for parental leave, I was told to quit the company altogether, or even disappeared when I went on parental leave.
It is important to not worry about money during parental leave by giving more subsidies like this time, but it is important to create an atmosphere and culture where the company encourages employees to go on parental leave first.
If an employee is fired or treated unfavorably for applying for parental leave, the punishment rules are also strong, and the employer is subject to imprisonment for up to 3 years or a fine of up to 20 million won.
Still, it is not easy for an employee to report a company directly to the employment department.
Even these regulations do not affect mothers and fathers very much.
In the end, it seems that the will of companies and the government's customized policies that can lead to this again are needed.
<anchor>
Yes.
A system called infant allowance was also created. How is this different from the existing countermeasures?
<Reporter>
I think we need to explain the existing policy first. This measure is still supported by the government at 470,000 won per month for childcare fees when using a daycare center.
However, if a child just cares for it at home, this is drastically reduced, so they can only receive up to 200,000 won per month.
So, there were many families who wanted to send them to the day care center rather than raising them.
This is the newly established Infant Allowance, which is provided as a support fund without dividing these two systems.
2022, so from a year later.
We pay 300,000 won per month to children aged 0 to 1, and this amount will increase gradually to 500,000 won by 2025.
In the future, it is a measure to support up to 500,000 won each, whether sending a daycare center or homecare.
In addition, there is a part that I will introduce a little more. There is a'first meeting package' system that gives 2 million won at a time when giving birth, and even now, a card with a limit of 600,000 won is given to pregnant women as the National Happiness Card.
This limit is raised to 1 million won.
Therefore, 3 million won in cash support is being provided for pregnancy and childbirth expenses.
<Anchor> In
fact, more money may be spent after the stone, but how effective is this cash spreading measure to increase the fertility rate?
<Reporter>
This measure gives a little more cash than the previous policy. There are many opinions that, although there are such contents, there are no very innovative contents.
The amount of money the government has invested to solve the low birth rate is a whopping 180 trillion won in 15 years.
Nevertheless, the total fertility rate in Korea last year was only 0.92.
This 0.92 means that one woman of childbearing potential has an average of 0.92 children, which is at the lowest level by OECD countries.
When it comes to not giving birth to a child, experts believe it is not just an economic reason.
A wide variety of factors, including social, economic, and cultural psychology, are combined. It seems that a thorough long-term vision and countermeasures, and bold investments, beyond the current cash-giving countermeasures, are needed.