It was confirmed on the 2nd that the government is reviewing a plan to pay parental leave benefits to women farmers. Most farmers are self-employed and are their own bosses. The self-employed can enroll in employment insurance. But they can receive only unemployment benefits, and parental leave benefits are not covered.
According to a compilation of reporting by ChosunBiz that day, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is reviewing a plan to pay parental leave benefits to women farmers. After the Lee Jae-myung administration said it would push "payment of child care allowances to the self-employed" as a state agenda item, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs began a full-fledged review. That is because most farmers are self-employed.
Rather than creating an independent program exclusively for women farmers, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is first reviewing a plan to include farmers in the "self-employed child care allowance" system being pursued by the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL). The payment level is expected to be discussed mainly around linking to the lower limit of parental leave benefits or partially to the minimum wage.
An official at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said, "It is particularly difficult for farmers to prove whether they are on leave and a reduction in income," and noted, "The most realistic approach is to prepare supporting data so that women farmers are not left out of the self-employed child care allowance system being created by the labor ministry."
☞Parental leave benefits
This is a program under which the government pays up to 2.5 million won per month for up to one year from the Employment Insurance Fund to workers who take parental leave for 30 days or longer at a company. To receive parental leave benefits, you must have been enrolled in employment insurance for at least six months before starting parental leave.