SEOUL, Apr 3 (NNN-YONHAP) – Almost 80 percent of South Korean adolescent parents, under the age of 24, felt that the burden of expenses of child-rearing was high, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, was quoted as saying.
According to the survey of 402 juvenile parents in the low-income bracket, or with a median income of 60 percent or less, 79.7 percent of respondents felt that the burden of child care expenses was high.
Among the services the parents needed, 47.7 percent picked night care at daycare centres, followed by 38.3 percent in need of the government-supported emergency care services, and 4.4 percent wanting meal provision services.
The average monthly income for the youth parents came to 2.96 million won (2,250 U.S. dollars), or some 68 percent of the average household income.
Earned and business incomes stood at 2,228,000 won (1,700 dollars), with government subsidies and pocket money from the family amounting to 555,000 won (420 dollars) and 158,000 won (120 dollars) each.
Of 44.9 percent of the adolescent parents who said they had debt, the average debt per household reached 49.91 million won (38,010 dollars), while 5.5 percent of the respondents said they were credit delinquents.
The juvenile parents who said they were employed made up 57.8 percent of the total, among which more than half were non-regular workers.– NNN-YONHAP
