The People Power Party is promoting the establishment of the 'Our Child's First Step Account System,' which supports parents with children under the age of 17 with a minimum of 100,000 won in a one-to-one matching system, as part of its presidential campaign. They also promised to improve the opaque operations of the wedding market and postpartum care centers.
Kweon Seong-dong, the floor leader of the People Power Party, said at a press conference on the 'Reducing Burdens and Increasing Happiness: Promises for a Stronger Republic of Korea from Marriage to Parenting' held in the National Assembly on the morning of the 23rd, "The life of a child after birth will also be prepared by the state," and noted, "We will establish the 'Our Child's First Step Account' system." It states that if parents save 200,000 won per month for children aged 0 to 1, and 100,000 won per month for those aged 2 to 17, the government will provide a one-to-one matching support.
The floor leader said, "When the maturity of 18 years arrives, an asset of about 50 million won will be formed, which will provide substantial help for the child's education, housing, and social entry." He added, "Using 50 million won as seed money, it is possible to apply for housing subscriptions, national pensions, and invest in stocks or cryptocurrencies based on personal judgment. This will be very helpful for the child to become independent." To enhance the usability of the system, mid-term withdrawals will only be allowed in exceptional cases, such as for emergency surgeries, and upon maturity, individuals wishing to do so will be able to transfer to national pensions or housing subscription savings. Additionally, there are plans to promote tax deductions for expenses related to arts and physical education academies.
In addition, regarding the 'Ddimssi Seed Account' aimed at supporting children from vulnerable groups, it was announced that the support ratio would increase from '1:2' to '1:3' between the supported children and the government. The floor leader said, "If both the Our Child's First Step Account and Ddimssi Seed Account are subscribed, children from vulnerable groups can accumulate about 100 million won by the age of 18." The budget for establishing the 'Our Child's First Step' account is estimated to be about 8.5 trillion won.
Plans are also underway to significantly increase support from the wedding preparation stage to childbirth to reduce burdens.
First, it was emphasized that they would address the opaque operations of the so-called 'Sdeume (studio shots, dresses, makeup)' industry. The floor leader pointed out, "The current wedding service market is plagued by opaque contracts, false advertising, and excessive additional expenses, leading to repeated suffering for prospective couples." He stated that they would strengthen consumer protection measures related to Sdeume, including the introduction of standard contracts, price display systems, insurance requirements, and systems for business deposits.
There are also plans to push for the enactment of the 'Wedding Service Act' to comprehensively solve the issue of information asymmetry related to wedding services and to establish grounds for victim compensation. Furthermore, the budget will be supported to utilize excellent public facilities located in municipalities, such as parks and museums, as wedding venues, and there will be a plan to establish a 'National Integrated Wedding Venue Reservation Platform' to enhance reservation transparency and user convenience.
Additionally, they announced plans to significantly ease the housing loan criteria for newlyweds. The income criteria for the Ddimdol loan will be raised to 120 million won, and the Bodeunmok Jeonse loan will be adjusted to 100 million won. The floor leader noted, "It is more rational to restrict newlywed housing loans based on assets rather than income," and stated, "We will change it so that marriage is not a loss, but a starting point for a better tomorrow."
Support for couples with infertility and pregnant women will also increase. The floor leader stated, "We will start with the expansion of public support necessary for pregnancy and childbirth," and announced that they would promote pledges such as medical insurance coverage for the collection and freezing of reproductive cells, the installation of at least one infertility and psychological counseling center for pregnant women in each metropolitan area, and the increase of the subsidy for multiple births to 1.3 million won.
It was also announced that the 'opaque operation' of postpartum care centers would be corrected. The floor leader noted, "The usage rate of postpartum care centers reaches 80%, but information about expenses and services remains limited," and stated, "We will introduce a mandatory evaluation system for postpartum care centers to provide transparent information and induce price stability and service quality improvement."
The floor leader said, "There has been no specific discussion on this pledge with presidential candidates," but added, "Since it's a welfare pledge, whoever becomes the candidate will adopt this pledge once it's confirmed by the party."