Gyeonggi to pay for teenagers' feminine care products starting next year

Gyeonggi Province is launching a provincewide voucher system for teenagers to buy feminine care supplies starting next year.

A total of 486,000 girls aged 11 to 18 in the province will be eligible for the program, receiving 132,000 won a year. Another 24,000 girls from low-income families already receive subsidies for feminine care products.

The initiative has been on a test run in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, since last year. The provincial government plans to expand it to all 31 of its cities and counties and will cover 30 percent of the amount needed from provincial coffers.

Around 64 billion won will be needed if all 31 municipalities and counties participate as planned, officials said.

“At the moment, though many regional governments provide feminine care supplies for low-income teenage girls, many students have avoided receiving the care in fear of being stigmatized as poor,” Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung said in a social media post Sunday.

“Gyeonggi Province, along with its cities and counties, will serve as a supportive base for the lives of teenage girls.”

By Ko Jun-tae (ko.juntae@heraldcorp.com)