Yoo Jeong-bok, mayor of Incheon, South Korea, announced a high-profile policy "100 million + idream" on the 18th, aiming to provide more welfare subsidies for babies born in Incheon. The introduction of this policy has aroused widespread concern and controversy in society.
As the initiator of the policy, Liu Zhengfu said that the goal of the policy is to provide all-round support for families with children, not only to simply increase subsidies, but also to fill the gaps in national policies and expand the scope of support to all areas of childcare. According to the policy, each baby born in Incheon will receive a welfare subsidy of 100 million won, which is provided from the fetus to the pre-18 years of age, in an effort to help families ease the financial burden of childcare.
In addition to the subsidy, the city of Incheon** also provides a series of additional benefits, including an "angel" bonus of 10.4 million won, a children's dream allowance, and transportation expenses for pregnant women, totaling up to 100 million won for teenagers from birth to 18 years old. Even more depending on eligibility such as personal circumstances and income, up to 3400 million won. The provision of these additional benefits will help families to better take care of their children's growing needs.
South Korea's total fertility rate is only 07, ranking first among the 236 countries in the world, this data also ranks low among OECD member countries. It is undeniable that the low fertility rate has brought a series of serious problems to South Korea, such as labor shortages, increasing aging population, and increasing social security pressures. Therefore, the move of the city of Incheon** is considered to a certain extent as an active exploration to deal with the demographic crisis.
Inevitably, however, this policy has also sparked controversy in society. Some argue that the "100 million+idream" policy is too generous and may lead to uneven distribution of resources and even abuse. They argue that the policy should focus more on the root causes of fertility rather than simply addressing the problem through welfare subsidies.
In any case, this policy of Incheon City** has undoubtedly attracted widespread attention and discussion in a short period of time. For South Korea, increasing the fertility rate has become an urgent issue, and such a policy measure may be worth learning from and thinking about in other regions. In practice, it may be necessary for the society to work together to stimulate the family's fertility willingness through a variety of ways in order to truly solve the population crisis and achieve sustainable social development.