7개월 아기 굶겨죽인 부모, 양육수당 1217만원은 챙겼다

A 20-year-old couple in their 20s was accused of leaving their 7-month-old infant to die, yet they continued to receive various social welfare payments. Despite the government's "infant crisis detection network," the child was not caught in the system due to lack of medical or preventive care records. In 2022, the parents received a total of 12,170,000 KRW in benefits, including a 30,000 KRW birth incentive, 200,000 KRW for first-time parents, 800,000 KRW in parental allowance, and 82,000 KRW in child allowance.

Even after the infant's death in the following month, they still received 1,050,000 KRW in parental allowance and 15,000 KRW in child allowance. The parents were found to have left the child alone for long periods while playing games at a convenience store. Medical examinations and vaccinations were also found to be inadequate. The government has since strengthened measures to combat infant crisis and announced plans to investigate 58,000 children under 6 years old for inadequate medical care or preventive care.

However, the targeted investigation did not include the parents in question. The "Child Happiness Support System" provides notifications to families with children who have missed medical checkups or vaccinations, but the system did not flag the parents. Experts suggest that simply focusing on crisis detection is insufficient and that multiple support systems should be established, including parental education, to better identify and address at-risk families.

The Ministry of Family Affairs and Social Welfare is currently considering ways to improve the system, including weighting factors and enhancing monitoring measures.