SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Yonhap) -- The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) is considering expanding state child care subsidies to all households with children under 2 years old to encourage more couples to have children and boost the country's low birthrate, a senior policymaker said Thursday.
The proposal calls for steadily expanding the child care subsidies, currently limited to lower-income households, to all families with children while increasing support for day care services, the GNP's deputy policymaker Ahn Hong-joon said.
Ahn did not give further details about by how much or when the program would be expanded.
The latest move to comes as the conservative party is grappling with low public support, especially among those in their 20s, 30s and 40s who suffer from rising living costs and job instability under the Lee Myung-bak administration's business-friendly policies.
The ruling party and the government have been pushing to drastically increase next year's budget by about 1 trillion won ($897 million) for child care and elderly welfare programs.
South Korea's birthrate remained at one of the lowest levels in the world in 2010 with 1.2 children per woman.
