Families with three or more minor children will be included in the priority boarding service at major airports in the country starting in June. Additionally, the income criteria for families who have given birth within the last two years and dual-income couples seeking support for dwellings will be relaxed.
The Low Birth Rate and Aging Society Committee held the 10th emergency meeting on population on the 11th to review the progress of measures addressing low birth rates and to announce supplementary measures.
First, priority boarding services will be introduced for families with three or more children at Incheon Airport, Gimpo Airport, Gimhae Airport, and Jeju Airport. This applies if all children are under 19 years of age. A total of two people, one parent and one child, may also use it. The priority boarding service allows pregnant women, people with disabilities, and those accompanying infants to use preferential exits.
Measures to address the difficulties that multi-child families face when using external accommodations for trips were also announced. The government plans to consult with the hotel association and other accommodation-related industries to promote ▲expanded room availability for families with multiple children ▲exclusion of infants when determining maximum occupancy ▲priority check-in services.
Measures to reduce the housing burden on families who have given birth and those raising children were also established. Points will be awarded for the allocation of public rental housing or special supply types for private rentals, and income criteria will be relaxed.
For those without housing applying for the 'Dundun Jeonse' program, the points awarded for new birth households within two years of birth will be increased from 1 point to 2 points. Dundun Jeonse is a program by the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) that rents out houses acquired in the metropolitan area at a deposit level of 90% compared to the market price.
Moreover, among public rental housing, the Newlywed and Newborn II type, which mainly targets middle-class newlyweds and families with newborns, will adjust the income criteria for Jeonse to be at the same level as that of the purchase rental type. The income criteria for dual-income families will be raised from 120% of the average monthly income of urban workers to 200%.
For the special supply type for newlywed couples in privately supported public rentals, which previously had no separate criteria for dual-income families, a new dual-income income criterion (200%) will be introduced. Points awarded for the number of children during the selection of tenants for purchase rentals and Jeonse (Newlywed and Newborn II type) will also be increased by 1 point each.
Additionally, the government is pursuing a plan to raise the tax-exempt limit on parental support payments made by corporations to employees from a maximum of 200,000 won regardless of the number of children to 200,000 won per child, aiming for implementation next year.
Jo Hyung-hwan, vice-chairman of the Low Birth Rate Committee, said, "We will continue to reform systems and practices to further spread the culture of prioritizing multi-child families," and noted, "The remaining marriage penalties will also be continuously identified and reformed in other areas such as taxation, finance, and welfare."