Support for diverse types of families;

stronger protection of victims of five leading cases of violence

- MOGEF's budget for 2023 year amounts to KRW 1,550.5 billion,

a 5.8% year-on-year increase in a bid to realize national policy agendas. -

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF/Minister Kim Hyunsook) said that its budget for next year was set in the amount of KRW 1,550.5 billion, a 5.8% year-on-year increase from that of this year (KRW 1,465.0 billion) as part of the government’s plan for 2023 budget and fund operation. 

The said budget has been drawn up with a focus on the following: ▲expansion of customized services for families including single-parent families, multicultural families, and families requiring childcare, ▲ provision of stronger support for victims of the five leading cases of violence such as digital sex crimes, domestic violence, crimes perpetrated by those in power, dating violence, stalking, etc., and ▲ provision of stronger support for less privileged people like youths in crisis, young women, etc.

The following are major contents of policy fields of family, rights and benefit, youth, gender equality covered by MOGEF’s budget for 2023.

1. Provision of stronger support for single-parent families and integrated family service

• Expansion of beneficiaries of single-parent families child support expenses: KRW 495.9 billion (an increase of KRW 74.6 billion)

• Expansion of beneficiaries of childcare: KRW 281.9 billion (an increase of KRW 79.8 billion)

• Expansion of beneficiaries of multicultural families children's basic learning, career consulting, translation/interpretation: KRW 24.7 billion (an increase of KRW 4.3 billion)

• Provision of support for young parents child support expense and a family where grandparent(s) take care of grandchildren due to parent(s)'s incompetence: KRW 110 billion (an increase of KRW 2.6 billion)

• Increasing the number of community child care center: KRW 11.2 billion (an increase of 6 billion)

Upward adjustment of criteria for provision of support for single-parent families child support expenses and young people/single parent child support expenses (For single-parent families: 52% → 60% or lower of median income/For young people single-parent families: 60%→65% or lower of median income

* Benchmark median income (for 2-person households as of 2023): 60% (KRW 2,074,000); 65% (KRW 2,247,000) 

Extension of childcare support hours from 840 hours to 960 hours a year (3.5 hours ⟶ 4 hours a day); expansion of beneficiary households (75,000 → 85,000)

Increasing the number of multicultural families support centers concerning children’s basic learning (90 → 138) career consulting (78 → 113) and those specializing in interpretation/translation, language development, fostering bilingual environment. 

Extension of support period for young parents child support expenses (6 → 12 months) for their self-reliance and childcare

Increasing the number of center for joint childrearing (376 → 395) and community child care centers (12 → 20) 

2. Provision of stronger customized support for victims of five major cases of violence

•Service designed to help stalking victims return to their normal daily lives: KRW 0.7 billion (New)

• Pilot programs for provision of support for victims: KRW 0.2 billion (New)

• Video-based examination of victims/witnesses of sexual violence (New/ KRW 1.3 billion) and treatment of sexual violence victims (an increase of KRW 0.3 billion) – KRW 3.6 billion in total

• Expansion of digital sex crime programs; building expertise; status survey of and sex extortion cases: KRW 1.2 billion (an increase of KRW 0.7 billion)

• Pilot operation of local institutions for protection of human trafficking victims’ rights/interests: KRW 0.2 billion (New)

• Production/distribution of contents of violence prevention for undergraduates: KRW 0.4 billion (New)

• Operation of protection facilities for male violence : KRW 0.1 billion (New)

Provision of support designed to help stalking victims return to their normal daily lives, e.g. lodgings, rental houses, recuperative programs

Operation of pilot program (in two areas) for integrated support for victims of five leading cases of violence, where one-stop service is provided ranging from reporting to recovery of loss (including 1366 center for women) 

Provision of stronger customized support for young sexual violence victims including arrangement for video-bases examination of witnesses at child-friendly places like Sunflower Centers; increasing support money for the emergency kit expense for collection of evidence of sexual violence for sexual violence victims (KRW 75,000 -> KRW 100,000 a piece). 

Expansion of operation of programs specializing in digital sex crime at sexual violence-related counseling centers (10 → 14); operation of status survey concerning young people-related sex extortion cases.

Pilot operation of local protection institutions for rights/interests of victims and prevention of human trafficking in step with execution of the Act on the Prevention of Human Trafficking and Protection, etc. of Victims Thereof in January 2023.

Production/distribution of contents of violence prevention for undergraduates. 

Operation of a protection facility for male violence.

3. Provision of stronger customized support for at-risk youths 

• Raising support for sanitary napkin for young women from less privileged households: KRW 13.6 billion (an increase of KRW 1 billion)

• Increasing support for at-risk youths suffering economic difficulty: KRW 36 billion (an increase of KRW 1.4 billion)

• Increasing support for youths leaving runaway youth shelters: KRW 0.4 billion (an increase of KRW 0.1 billion)

• Increasing the number of support hands at the National Daegu Youth Health Center: KRW 9.9 billion (an increase of KRW 0.6 billion)

• Support for successful hosting of the 25th World Scout Jamboree to be held in Saemangeum, Korea 2023: KRW 5.0 billion 

Raising support for sanitary napkin for young women from less privileged households in consideration of the rise in prices (KRW 144,000 → KRW 156,000 a year).

Increasing support for at-risk youths suffering economic difficulty (KRW 550,000 → KRW 650,000 a year); Increasing support for youths leaving runaway youth shelters (KRW 300,000 a month for three years for 140 youths -> 210 youths).

Increasing the number of support hands at the National Daegu Youth Health Center in a bid to provide professional service to youths having emotional/behavioral problems

Support for successful hosting of the 25th World Scout Jamboree to be held in Saemangeum, Korea 2023 to help young people engage in more diverse hands-on experiences 

4. Provision of stronger support for women’s participation in economic activities and spread of gender-equality culture

• Expansion of vocational training courses specializing in promising areas related to digital/new technologies: KRW 20.9 billion  (an increase of KRW 1.46 billion)

• Expansion of programs for women experiencing career interruptions/career-interruption experienced by women/women’s career interruptions through the increase in the number of relevant teams (7→12) and of relevant programs (1→2): KRW 5.47 billion (an increase of KRW 0.9 billion)

• Support for programs for enhancing consensus opportunities for youths and relevant policy monitoring: KRW 0.4 billion (New)

• Promotion of construction of National Women’s History Museum: KRW 38 billion won (an increase of KRW 2.5 billion)

Expansion of vocational training courses (66→74) specializing in promising areas related to digital/new technologies at the Saeil Center for Vocational Training for Women to invigorate women's participation in economic activities; increasing the number of teams working on women experiencing career interruptions/career-interruption experienced by women/women's career interruptions (7→12); and expansion of relevant programs for prevention of women's career interruption (1→2).

Support for programs for enhancing consensus opportunities for youths and relevant policy monitoring; diagnosis of organizational culture concerning those in the public center to foster gender-equality; provision of relevant consulting

Promotion of construction of National Women's History Museum to shed light on women's lives and role in the country's history and strive to encourage balanced sense of history

Commenting on the matter, Minister Kim Hyunsook said, “We at the MOGEF have drawn up for the 2023 budget in keeping with the need for promotion of smooth proceeding of national policy agenda with a focus on the following: generous support for single-parent families, multicultural families, at-risk youths, expansion of childcare services, support for victims of five leading cases of violence including stalking victims.”

She added, “We will keep strengthening policy support for those from less privileged households and violence victims.”