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Gov't raises child payment age to include 8-year-olds, provides payouts

Published: 23 Apr. 2026, 21:03

Newborn babies are seen in cradles in a nursery at a hospital in Gyeonggi on April 22. [NEWS1]

The government widened the eligibility of child payments by raising the cut-off threshold by one year — up to the age of nine — allowing eight-year-old children to receive 100,000 won ($67) per month, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Thursday.

The amendment to the Child Allowance Act was passed at the National Assembly on March 1. While the previous scheme handed 100,000 won monthly to every child who is 7 years old or younger, the new scheme extends the benefit to eight-year-old children starting this year.

As part of the amendment, about 430,000 children born between January 2017 and March 2018 will receive retroactive payments for January to April. A total of 168.7 billion won will be spent on retroactive payments.

The number of total beneficiaries in the rollout that will occur on Friday is 2.55 million, with a total payout of 389.2 billion won.

The expansion of the child allowance scheme is in line with the state's agenda to foster “child-parenting friendly environment” as the country struggles with chronically low birthrates — 0.8 children per woman in her reproductive years according to last year's annual figure by the Ministry of Data and Statistics. The latest monthly birthrate for February was tallied at 0.93 children, the ministry said Thursday.

The government plans to push the expansion in a phased stage, raising the eligibility threshold by one year at a time — expanding it to under 10 years old in 2027, under 11 years old in 2028, under 12 years old in 2029, and under 13 years old in 2030.

Children living outside the greater Seoul area will receive additional stipends.

Those residing in the non-metropolitan area will receive an extra 5,000 won monthly, while those in regions facing population decline will earn 10,000 won to 20,000 won in accordance with the severity of regional demographic crisis. If local governments offer the stipend in the form of a local voucher, the recipients can receive an additional 10,000 won.

Children who have stayed abroad for 90 days or longer, or whose payment information cannot be verified, will be excluded from Friday's rollout.

Children walk on snow-covered streets near an elementary school in western Seoul in February. [YONHAP]

Payment amounts vary depending on birth date and residence.

Children born between January 2017 and January 2018 and living in the greater Seoul area will receive a payment of 400,000 won as a lump sum on Friday. The benefit covers allowance from January to April. Those born during the same period but living in areas experiencing a sharp population decline, such as Danyang County in North Chungcheong and Wando County in South Jeolla, are eligible to receive up to 480,000 won.

Those born in February 2018 will receive between 300,000 and 380,000 won, while those born in March 2018 will receive between 200,000 and 280,000 won. Children born after April 2018 will receive between 100,000 and 180,000 won on Friday.

Starting in May, payment amounts will be standardized regardless of birth month and will depend only on residence and method of disbursement.

Children in the capital region will receive 100,000 won each month, while those outside it will receive 105,000 won per month.

In population-shrinking areas, recipients will get 110,000 won in cash or 120,000 won in local vouchers. In regions seeing an extreme population crisis, each child will be given 120,000 won in cash or 130,000 won in vouchers.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY RHEE ESTHER [[email protected]]