The government provided about 16.7 billion won to single-parent families during the first year of its child support advance program.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said Saturday that it had paid child support to 6,923 households and 10,917 minor children in the year since the program launched in July last year. The total amount was 16.73 billion won.
Under the child support advance program, the state pays child support in advance to minor children of single-parent families who fail to receive it, then recovers the money from the debtor. The program was introduced for the first time last year to reduce gaps in childcare and support the stable growth of children.
To help the program take root quickly, the ministry eased application requirements in September last year. Previously, only those who had received no child support at all during the three months before applying could apply. This was expanded to cases where "the average monthly child support received over three months is less than the advance payment." The measure aims to prevent applicants from being excluded from support simply because they received partial child support.
The Child Support Agency has also been carrying out recovery procedures since January this year for the 77.3 billion won in child support advances paid in the second half of last year. Recovery notices and reminders are used to encourage payment, and compulsory collection procedures follow when payment is not made. As of the end of May this year, the amount recovered was 640 million won.
To strengthen the recovery system, the ministry established an advance recovery system in cooperation with the Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute, the National Health Insurance Service, and the National Tax Service. It increased dedicated recovery staff to eight and continues to cooperate with related agencies including the National Tax Service and the Seoul Metropolitan Government. From October, the ministry plans to abolish the income threshold for the advance program to further expand eligibility.
"Over the past year, the child support advance program has established itself as a safety net supporting the livelihood stability of single-parent families struggling with gaps in child support and the healthy growth of their children," said Won Min-kyung, Minister of Gender Equality and Family. "Through the abolition of the income threshold, we will support more families, while strengthening cooperation with related agencies to ensure debtors fulfill their responsibilities."
