One Year of Advance Child Support Payments: Relief for 6,900 Households, Over 10,000 Minors Benefit

Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Intensifies Compulsory Collection from Child Support Debtors
Total of 16.73 Billion Won Provided in Advance Payments

#Choi, a single parent raising three children alone, was legally entitled to 1.5 million won in monthly child support, but never received the proper payments. In the past nine months, there were no payments at all. During this period, the eldest could not attend the desired academy, and the second and third children, both with developmental challenges, were unable to receive appropriate treatment. However, after qualifying for the government’s advance child support payment program, the family began receiving 600,000 won per month, which brought them some relief.

Over the past year, more than 10,000 minors have benefited from the advance child support payment program.

On July 5, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced that, from July last year, when the advance child support payment program was launched, to May this year, a total of 10,917 minors from 6,923 households received a combined 16.73 billion won in advance child support payments.

The advance child support payment program provides child support directly from the government to minors in single-parent families who do not receive payments, and then recovers the funds from the debtor. The system, introduced last year, aims to reduce gaps in child support and help ensure stable growth for children.

In September last year, at the beginning of the program’s implementation, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family eased the eligibility criteria for advance payments. The requirement changed from “no payments at all in the three months preceding the application month” to “the average monthly child support received in the previous three months is less than the advance payment amount.” This change was made to prevent malicious attempts to block applications for advance payments.

The government began the recovery process for advance child support payments in January of this year.

The Child Support Enforcement Agency is sequentially recovering the 7.73 billion won in advance payments made in the second half of last year. The recovery process is conducted through compulsory collection procedures in accordance with the National Tax Collection Act.

First, the debtor receives a notice and demand for payment to encourage repayment. If the debtor still fails to pay after the demand, compulsory collection is carried out with the approval of the Minister of Gender Equality and Family. As of the end of May, a total of 640 million won had been recovered.

The Child Support Enforcement Agency is operating a robust recovery system, coordinating with the Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute, the National Health Insurance Service, the National Tax Service, and others. Recovery personnel have been increased, and cooperation with agencies such as the National Tax Service and Seoul Metropolitan Government has been strengthened.

Starting in October this year, the government plans to abolish the income threshold for the advance payment program, further expanding support for single-parent families struggling to raise children due to lack of child support.

Minister of Gender Equality and Family Won Minkyoung stated, "Over the past year, the advance child support payment program has become a solid safety net, supporting the livelihood stability of single-parent families and the healthy growth of children who have struggled with gaps in child support payments. With the abolition of the income threshold in October, we will be able to help more single-parent families. At the same time, we will reinforce cooperation with related agencies to ensure that child support debtors fulfill their responsibilities more thoroughly."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.