Qualified mothers assisting daughters with babies to receive postpartum care support funds

[Anchor]

Starting next year, mothers with a health care worker qualification will be able to receive government support if they assist their daughters with postpartum care.

As the birth rate rebounds, the scope of government support is also expanding.

Reporter Kim Ha-eun has the details.

[Report]

A woman in her 60s with a health care worker qualification.

She has personally assisted her daughters with postpartum care twice, but she never dreamed of receiving the government support of over one million won for just ten days.

This is because mothers were not eligible for the goverment's postpartum care support funds.

[Mother in her 60s/health care worker qualification holder: "Even though I have a certificate, I knew that my family wouldn't qualify. I just did it for her. I didn't even think about receiving funds."]

In fact, mothers or mothers-in-law living with their daughters or daughters-in-law were considered family and were excluded from the government's postpartum helper support.

Only mothers-in-law living separately from their daughters-in-law received benefits.

[Postpartum helper dispatch company official/voice altered: "There are many cases where the qualified postpartum helpers have daughters who have babies. They ask whether they can help their daughters who is about to give birth, but I say they can't because mothers are not eligible...."]

This was due to concerns about the possibility of receiving support through improper means.

The government has ultimately decided that starting next year, if a person has a health management certificate, both mothers and mothers-in-law who are living with their daughters-in-law will be eligible for support.

[Joo Hyung-hwan/Vice Chairman of the Aging Society and Population Policy Committee: "(In the case of mothers), there were many opinions that it was unreasonable to be excluded from government support. We have revised the relevant guidelines to make government support possible going forward."]

The system that provided incentives, such as tax investigation exemptions, to companies that operate exemplary family-friendly systems will also be expanded to increase participation rates.

The Aging Society and Population Policy Committee has stated that the number of births this year is expected to increase to the late 230,000s compared to last year, indicating a hopeful sign of significant change.

This is KBS News, Kim Ha-eun.