저소득한부모가족 아동양육비 지원방안 연구

Study on the Support Policies on the Child Care Expenses for Single-parent Families

Ⅰ. 서론 □ 연구배경 및 연구목적 - 본 연구는 한부모가족지원사업의 주요내용인 아동양육비 지원제도에 대한 구체적 개선방안을 제안하는 연구임. - 한부모가족은 생계부양과 자녀돌봄의 역할을 동시에 수행해야 하는 어려움을 갖고 있고 경제적으로도 취약한 집단 중 하나임. 한부모가족의 경제적 빈곤은 아동양육에도 영향을 미쳐, 아동양육부담을 크게 갖는 것으로 나타남. 그러나 아동양육에 대한 지출이 늘어나는 한국사회에서 저소득한부모가족이 아동양육에 투입할 수 있는 비용은 극히 제한적임. 따라서 한부모가족 아동의 적절한 양육을 위한 사회적 지원은 매우 필요한 상황임. - 한부모가족의 아동양육을 위한 지원은 만 12세 미만을 대상으로 월 5만원이 지급되고 있음. 20년간 제도가 운영되어 왔음에도 불구하고 실제 아동양육에 소요되는 비용에 비해 크게 부족한 상황임. 이는 양육비 지원적 성격과 생계비 지원적 성격이 혼재되어 있어, 아동양육비의 근거와 목적이 명확치 않은 것에 기인함. - 본 연구는 이러한 저소득한부모가족 아동양육비 지원제도가 내재하고 있는 정책근거의 모호성에 주목하여, 행정사자료 분석을 통해 정책의 출발점을 규명하고, 저소득한부모가족 아동양육비 지원체계에 대한 OECD 국가비교를 통해 제도개선의 시사점을 도출하였음. 그리고 이를 토대로 저소득한부모가족 아동양육 지원을 현실화할 수 있는 구체적 정책패키지를 제시하고, 정책패키지 내에서 한부모가족지원 아동양육비의 단계별 포지셔닝(positioning)전략을 제안함.

The purpose of this study is to suggest the improvement of the support policies on the child care expenses for single-parent families. Single-parent families experience multifaceted problems with making a living and taking care of their children under strained economic conditions. Such pressures exert adverse influences on child rearing, in which the burden becomes heavier by economic deprivation. In contrast to the increased amount that parents invest in their children in Korean society, it became much harder for low-income single parents to spend to a similar extent. Accordingly, it is imperative to establish social support for the parents to appropriately rear their children. Currently, low-income single-parent families with children under the age of 12 are provided 50,000 won per month by the government support for child care. Though this government support has been operated for about twenty years, it has not been effective in reducing the real child care costs of single parents. This is due to the vague purposes of the government support, in terms of mixed goals for supporting child care expenses and living costs. This study is aimed at proposing an alternative measure to improve the support policies on the child care expenses of low-income single parents. First, this study reviewed the administrative histories of child care expenses through the thorough examination of public administration literature. Second, this study examined cross-national comparative analyses on the structures and levels of the support systems on the child care expenses in the OECD countries. Third, this study proposed the policy measures to improve the support systems of the child care expenses. First, the historical backgrounds and changes on support for child care expenses of single-parents were reviewed. The support for child care expenses of single-parents were first implemented in 1992 in accordance with applicable provisions of Mother and Child Family Act (1989). It had two objectives to improve child care and stabilize living conditions of low-income single parent families by providing financial aid based on powdered baby formula (320 won in one day on 80 grams). Since then the assistance for child care has been gradually expanded by adjusting the eligibility to receive the support from children under the age of 3 to the age of 12 and increasing financial aid from 9,600 won per month (320won * 30days) to 50,000 won. Indeed, an additional subsidization was provided at differential rates based on the subdivided types of single-parent families in terms of families headed by grandparents, unmarried parents, and adolescents. Nevertheless, the expenditure for the child care expenses has been found to be insufficient, compared to the actual spending for child care. This has been due to the measurement uncertainty in estimating the extent of support for child care expenses. For instance, the government has broaden its support for child care expenses to children under 12 without modification of the measurement criteria, in which the support was determined based on the required amount of powered infant formula. Furthermore, the purpose of the subsidy has been unclear with mixed characteristics of supporting the living conditions and improving the quality of child care. Second, the cross-national comparative analyses on the support systems for single-parent families were performed. The analyses results revealed that the benefit level of South Korea was relatively low. The U.K. has implemented the government support targeting poor single parents while Sweden and Germany have provided the universal government subsidies above a certain level to all single-parents, which includes children's allowance and maintenance support for child care expenses. In South Korea, a household with income that reached above the relative poverty line becomes likely to lose eligibility for the government subsidies, along with the fact that there is no family s