A workplace where parents receive 100 million won (about $75,000 USD) per child had a festive atmosphere again this year thanks to an unusually generous childbirth incentive program.
At Booyoung Group, there are virtually no eligibility requirements beyond nationality. One employee even received the full 100 million won just one day after joining the company.
Jung Jae-il / Manager, Sales Division, Booyoung Group:
“I came to work assuming I wouldn’t qualify, since the baby was born the day after I joined.”
Another employee, who had a son and daughter in consecutive years, received a total of 200 million won over two years. For these families, the babies are being described quite literally as “bundles of fortune.”
Kim Jae-hyuk / Staff Member, Construction Division, Booyoung Group:
“When the 100 million won came in on the day of the company’s New Year ceremony, I was overjoyed. I’m still thinking about how to use it, but I plan to put it toward buying a home back in my hometown someday.”
This year alone, Booyoung Group paid out a total of 3.6 billion won in childbirth bonuses to employees. That’s a 28% increase from 2.8 billion won last year, bringing the cumulative total to 13.4 billion won.
This bold approach is spreading across the corporate world. Game company Krafton, for example, offers 60 million won as a childbirth bonus and an additional 40 million won in childcare support.
However, after two years of running the program, Booyoung Group says broader institutional support is urgently needed for a culture of childbirth incentives to take root across society.
Lee Joong-keun / Chairman, Booyoung Group:
“If someone nearby—not necessarily a neighbor—has a baby, we’d like to give them a childbirth bonus too. But those payments aren’t tax-exempt yet. That’s why we’ve submitted a formal policy proposal.”
Attention is now focused on whether these corporate-led efforts could help spark a “miracle” recovery in South Korea’s total fertility rate to 1.5 children per woman.
This is Ryu Jeong-hyun for SBS Biz.
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