The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Child Support Management Institute announced on the 30th that they will implement the advance payment system for child support starting July 1.
The advance payment system for child support is a system in which the state pays child support to creditors first, and then recovers the advance payment from the debtors later. The government will pay 200,000 won per month to the children of single-parent families that have not been receiving child support (those with median income below 150%) until they turn 18. This aims to address issues where one parent raises a child while the other does not pay child support due to divorce or other reasons.
The recipients of the advance child support payments must first meet the condition that the child support debtor, who is obligated to make regular child support payments, has not fulfilled their debt obligations for at least 3 months prior to applying for the advance payment or has not done so consecutively for 3 times.
In addition, the recognized income of the household to which the child support creditor belongs must be below 150% of the median income (based on the sum of the health insurance premiums for the household). Furthermore, they must have applied for legal support or debt collection support necessary to secure child support from the Child Support Management Institute, or must have completed or be in the process of filing child support enforcement procedures under family litigation law, indicating that they have made efforts to receive the unpaid child support.
If all these application requirements are met, they can receive child support up to a monthly limit of 200,000 won per child until the minor child reaches adulthood. However, if the child support debtor pays more than the advance payment amount in that month, the advance payment will be suspended.
Child support creditors who wish to receive advance payments can submit their applications via the Child Support Management Institute's website or by mail. After an investigation into whether the application requirements are met, payments can be received on the 25th of each month.
Vice Minister Shin Young-sook noted, "The advance payment system for child support is expected to also contribute to strengthening the parenting responsibilities of non-custodial parents."
Jeon Ji-hyun, director of the Child Support Management Institute, said, "We will make careful efforts to ensure that single-parent families do not face difficulties in using the system, from application receipt to payment of advance child support."