"I heard that sending my child to daycare cuts the parental benefit. Is that true?" This is the question parents ask most once a daycare place is settled and a return to work is near. The short answer is that the benefit does not shrink; the way you receive it changes. The same 1,000,000 won arrives split between a childcare voucher and cash. This article sets out, based on 2026 notices from the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Aisarang childcare portal, how much is deposited when you use daycare and when it arrives.

Every child under age 2 receives the parental benefit

The parental benefit was created to support care in infancy, and any household raising a child under 2 years old receives it. The amount is 1,000,000 won a month for age 0 and 500,000 won a month for age 1. Here age 0 means from the birth month through month 11, and age 1 means from month 12 through month 23. It makes no difference whether you raise the child at home or send the child to daycare. The legal basis is the Child Allowance Act, and payments have run since January 2023, with the amounts above applying in 2026. It is not reduced by income or assets, so the child's age in months is the only criterion, whether or not both parents work.

With daycare, the voucher is applied first

For a child in daycare, the part of the parental benefit that corresponds to the childcare fee is used first as a voucher, and only the remainder is paid in cash. The basic childcare fee that parents would owe is fully covered within the government support rate, so there is no separate basic fee to pay the daycare. The total support stays the same and only the payment route changes. That is why it is easy to see a smaller figure on your bank statement and conclude that the benefit has disappeared. In short, a family using daycare receives the fee portion as a voucher and the rest in cash, and the two amounts together equal the parental benefit for a child raised at home.

The 2026 fee for the age 0 class is 584,000 won

Childcare fee rates for ages 0 to 2 were raised from the January 2026 usage month. For basic care they are 584,000 won for the age 0 class, 515,000 won for the age 1 class and 426,000 won for the age 2 class. The cash difference is the parental benefit minus this rate, so when the fee rate rises, the cash left over from the same parental benefit becomes smaller. The new differences took effect from the payment made in February 2026, and parents still pay no basic childcare fee within the government support rate. If your deposit differs from last year's, this rate adjustment may be the reason. The same notice also set night-care and 24-hour rates: night care equals basic care, while 24-hour care is 876,000 won in the age 0 class and 772,500 won in the age 1 class. For children with disabilities the full-day rate is 634,000 won and the after-school rate is 317,000 won. Rates depend on the type of care used, so check your own type before calculating.

For age 0, the cash difference depends on the class

The parental benefit for a child 0 to 11 months old is 1,000,000 won. In the age 0 class, subtracting the 584,000 won fee leaves 416,000 won in cash; in the age 1 class, subtracting 515,000 won leaves 485,000 won. Even children of the same age receive different differences depending on the class they are assigned to, so check which class your child is in as soon as you get the admission notice. For example, two children born in the same month, one assigned to the age 0 class and the other to the age 1 class, can differ by around 70,000 won in monthly cash. That gap comes from the age 1 fee being 69,000 won lower than the age 0 fee.

For age 1, there is no cash difference

The parental benefit for a child 12 to 23 months old is 500,000 won, but the age 1 class fee is higher at 515,000 won. The whole benefit is therefore used up as a voucher and no cash difference remains. The notice also describes this range as unchanged. If a deposit disappears, that does not mean the application was wrong; understand it as the structure in which the daycare fee is fully supported. Note, however, that a 12 to 23 month old raised at home still receives the full 500,000 won in cash on the 25th, so the day you start daycare is when your household's deposit pattern changes.

Payment dates differ for home care and daycare

The parental benefit for a child raised at home is paid on the 25th of every month. For a child in daycare, the difference is paid on the 20th of the month after the month of use. For example, the settlement for January 2026 usage was paid in February. In the first month a child starts daycare, the amount already received on the 25th and the settlement the next month can overlap and make the timing look off, so the exact settlement method is best confirmed with your local community service center or the 129 counseling line.

Apply within 60 days of birth

You apply by visiting your neighborhood community service center or online through Bokjiro or Government24, and you can also handle it when you register the birth. If you apply within 60 days of the date of birth, payment is made retroactively from the month of birth. After that deadline you can receive it only from the month you apply, so this is an item to do quickly. For example, if a child is born in early October and you apply before early December, you receive it from October, but an application after that is counted from the month you apply. Submitting the application together with the birth registration almost removes the risk of missing the deadline. If you are preparing for daycare admission, see how daycare waitlist rank and priority points work, and for worries about pick-up time, the guidance on basic care of seven hours and extended care is on the Aisarang childcare portal. For care outside daycare hours, read on to part-time childcare or the government subsidy for the child care service.

How to check your deposit

If you are about to start daycare, the steps below let you estimate the deposit in advance.

First, confirm whether your child is 0 to 11 months or 12 to 23 months old. Second, check on the admission notice whether the class is age 0 or age 1, and calculate the cash difference using the rates above. Third, tell apart whether the deposit date is the 25th or the 20th of the next month when you look at your account. Fourth, if the deposit differs from your calculation, first suspect whether the daycare usage record and class assignment are registered correctly, and if it still differs, contact the counseling center. This article is general information based on the 2026 notices of the Ministry of Health and Welfare and Aisarang, and the amount may differ by household. Confirm individual payment amounts with Bokjiro, your local community service center or the Ministry's counseling center at 129.