Next year's budget for the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is set at 1.9986 trillion won, an increase of 11.8% from this year. This is due to the restoration of programs that were abolished by the previous government, and the expansion of government support for child care.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family noted that the 2026 budget proposal, which includes these details, was approved during the Cabinet meeting on the 29th.
This budget proposal focuses on three areas: ▲expansion of care and support for diverse families ▲creation of a safe and gender-equal society ▲support for the healthy growth of youth. The area with the largest increase in next year's budget proposal is family policy, which received an allocation of 1.4019 trillion won, a 13.8% increase from this year.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family plans to expand government support for 'child care services' from 200% of the median income to 250% or less. As a result, the number of supported households is expected to increase from the current 120,000 to 126,000.
A daily emergency care allowance of 5,000 won and an hourly care allowance for infants and toddlers of 1,000 won will be newly established. Additionally, the government support hours for single-parent and grandparent-headed households will be increased from 960 hours to 1,080 hours per year.
In addition, to alleviate the childcare burden on low-income single-parent families, the income standard for welfare benefits will be raised from 63% to 65% of the median income. Additional child care expenses (100,000 won per month) and child school supplies (100,000 won per year), as well as living subsidies for households entering welfare facilities for single-parent families (100,000 won per month), will also increase.
As part of various family support measures, a pilot project will be implemented to extend the operation of shared childcare facilities in local areas until late hours (20 locations).
Furthermore, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family plans to increase the personnel at the Digital Sexual Crime Victim Support Center (Digital Center) by 23. This will strengthen the response to digital sexual crimes. The integrated response budget for digital sexual crimes is set at 6.245 billion won, an increase of 1.7 billion won from this year.
In addition, a project to promote gender-balanced culture among the youth generation will be pursued to spread the culture of gender equality. An expense of 6.4 billion won has been allocated for the construction costs of the National Women's History Museum, scheduled to open by the end of 2028.