청소년부모 아동양육비 지원 신청 방법According to the 2021 National Statistical Office’s population trend survey, the percentage of newborns born to mothers aged 15 to 24 years old accounts for 5.4% of all 26,562 newborns. In January, an entertainment program dealing with the daily life and parenting process of adolescent parents was broadcast under the title of Season 3 thanks to the interest of viewers. Just by looking at these points, we can feel that it is not that there is no interest in the percentage of teenagers’ parents’ families in our society.
However, when looking at family-related policies, the contents related to adolescent parents are not easily seen. Are there any difficulties in their lives? It was not easy to find parents of teenagers around them, so I went to the school counseling center and inquired about the percentage of parents who come to counseling about the difficulties of parents of teenagers.
The counselor said, “It is rare for parents of teenagers to visit the counseling center directly for fear of being judged by society. Most of those who visited the center said they were tired of studying and raising children, and that they were either quitting their studies for the time being or were planning to quit altogether. They felt a lot of responsibility and helplessness to take care of their children in a situation where they had not yet set their own career path. Although they are worried about the rising cost of living and housing, they cannot recklessly increase their part-time jobs out of fear of a childcare gap.
Despite this vagueness, the couple made a difficult decision to raise their child together. But a bigger problem remains. The point is that young couples are in the blind spot of welfare. Under the welfare policy, single mothers or single fathers aged 24 or younger who are in a similar situation as young couples can receive basic living expenses of up to 450,000 won per month. In addition, when they apply for medical benefits and calculate their household income, their parents’ income is excluded, unlike when a young couple applies. This is because the National Basic Livelihood Security System stipulates that the standard for obligatory support is abolished only in the case of “single-parent households” under the age of 30. Therefore, it is more difficult for adolescent couples who have registered their marriage, not single-parent families, to receive basic livelihood support funds.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family recognized this situation and started a pilot project to support child rearing expenses for parents of teenagers from last year. The conditions for receiving support are as follows:
First of all, both parents in a marital relationship must be under the age of 24 at the time of application. You must be raising at least one child, and your child must be in a cohabiting relationship with at least one of the fathers or mothers according to resident registration. There are also conditions related to income. As of 2023, you can apply if your income is below 60% of the median income (three-person household, about 2.66 million won). If all qualifications are met, child support is paid for one year at a rate of 200,000 won per child per month. In this case, the application can be made by visiting the eup/myeon office or dong community service center corresponding to the child’s address.
The counselor said that adolescent parents had relatively little knowledge or experience in raising children when they were not ready, and that they needed a lot of help, but that they were afraid of the cold eyes around them. Hearing those words reminded me of an African proverb that says it takes a whole village to raise a child. As with all families, there will be no disagreement that families led by parents of teenagers should receive more protection from society. This is because all members of the family are growing up. So, shouldn’t society provide a minimum safety net so that the rights of the unborn baby can be protected and parents of teenagers can establish themselves as healthy members of society?
We believe that the right to be happy and the right to be protected are something that every member of our society should have for granted. I believe that the child support support policy for parents of teenagers will be a small starting point for embracing those who are marginalized in our society to reduce them.
Republic of Korea Policy Correspondent Han Ji-min hanrosa2@naver.com
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