The government said Tuesday it is revising its child support subsidy system to allow custodial parents who receive only partial payments from their child's non-custodial parent to become eligible for state assistance.
Currently, only those who receive no support at all from non-custodial parents qualify for the government’s advance payments, which in principle are to be recovered from the delinquent parent later on.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said the revision was passed in the Aug. 21-22 meeting of the Deliberative Committee on Payment of Child Support, with the new measure set to take effect Sept. 1.
The current system allows single parents who have not received any child support from their former spouse or partner for three months, and whose household income is under 150 percent of the national median income, to apply for the advance child support payments. The system was implemented in July, paying up to 200,000 won ($143) per month per child for the custodial parent, with the money to be collected from the non-custodial parent who failed to pay their portion of child-rearing expenses.
But those who received small, partial payments from the non-custodial parent were not eligible for state support. Such partial payments were often made by delinquent parents seeking to avoid government seizure of their assets.
In a bid to address this legal loophole, parents who received less than the government's advance payment for child support -- 200,000 won -- on average for three months will now be eligible for the system.
The committee also handed down 226 punitive actions against 200 individuals who had not fulfilled their child support obligations. These actions included 143 overseas travel bans, 72 driver's license suspensions, and 11 cases of publishing the delinquent parent's identity.
A total of 792 punitive actions were imposed between January and August of this year, an increase of 29.4 percent compared to the same period last year. The ministry said this appears to be the result of the government simplifying punishments for deadbeat parents in September last year.
Those punished for not paying child support owed an average of 51.9 million won, with one individual owing as much as 319.7 million won.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
