Vouchers worth 8.16 billion won issued over past 5 years, but only 5.1 billion won actually used

Seo Mi-hwa: 'Parents need real time and caregiving conditions to receive counseling'

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[123RF]

Only about 60 percent of the vouchers issued over the past five years for a counseling support service for parents of children with developmental disabilities were actually used for that purpose, data showed.

Rep. Seo Mi-hwa of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, released data from the Korea Social Security Information Service on Wednesday.

The data showed that vouchers issued for the parent counseling support service for people with developmental disabilities totaled 8.16 billion won ($6.09 million) from 2021 to 2025.

Of that, only 5.1 billion won, or 62.1 percent, was actually used.

The number of applicants and those selected to receive the service both rose consistently over the period. Total applicants grew from 710 in 2021 to 728 in 2022, 1,086 in 2023, 1,192 in 2024 and 1,258 in 2025 — a 77.2 percent increase over five years.

The number of people selected likewise climbed from 657 in 2021 to 669 in 2022, 1,053 in 2023, 1,139 in 2024 and 1,216 in 2025, up 85.1 percent.

But the annual usage rate remained in the 60 percent range throughout: 59.9 percent in 2021, 60.8 percent in 2022, 63.3 percent in 2023, 61.9 percent in 2024 and 64.8 percent in 2025.

By region, Gyeonggi Province (158 applicants/143 selected), Seoul (114/102) and the South Jeolla Province-Gwangju area (73/70) had the highest numbers of applicants and selected recipients in 2021. Ulsan (2/2), Jeju (7/7) and Sejong (9/8) had the fewest.

In 2025, Gyeonggi Province (401/393), Seoul (210/195) and the South Jeolla Province-Gwangju area (102/98) again topped the list. Sejong (9/9), Gangwon Province (15/14) and Ulsan (17/16) remained at the bottom.

"This is not a problem that can be solved simply by urging parents to use the service more," Seo said. "Rather than just expanding counseling voucher support, the government needs to expand the conditions that allow parents to actually receive counseling, including support for rest and caregiving."


thlee@heraldcorp.com