Cases of couples failing to register their marriage even after having a child or engaging in sham divorces to receive single-parent family benefits frequently surface on online communities and other platforms.

Once qualified as a single-parent family, individuals receive various welfare benefits such as a child-rearing allowance of 230,000 won per month per child, along with notable benefits in real estate subscription housing and income deductions.

Fraudulent receipts of single-parent family child-rearing allowances are actually on the rise.

However, relevant authorities understand that the proportion of cases where common-law marriages are intentionally concealed—such as omitting marriage registration to receive single-parent benefits—is not remarkably large among the reasons for fraudulent collection.

The Single-Parent Family Support Act defines single-parent families as mother-headed or father-headed families where a parent who is divorced, bereaved, or unmarried raises a child.

Even if a marriage has not been registered, those in a common-law relationship are not eligible for support.

However, if a spouse economically abandons the family maliciously without supporting them, they become eligible for support.

After being recognized as a single-parent family, those who meet income criteria such as 65 percent or less of the median income can receive welfare benefits like the 230,000 won monthly child-rearing allowance.

Although the conditions are strict, reports and redemption decision amounts for fraudulent receipt of single-parent family child-rearing allowances are on an upward trend due to substantial benefits and an expansion in budgets and targets.

Accordingly, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission stated last year that cases of fraudulently receiving single-parent family child-rearing allowances through sham divorces or concealing common-law relationships are increasing, and announced plans to thoroughly investigate reported cases.

In fact, reports of fraudulent receipts of single-parent family child-rearing allowances received by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission surged 11.4-fold from 40 cases in 2020 to 454 cases in 2025.

As of August this year, 370 cases have been received.

The budget for single-parent family support is growing from 561.4 billion won in 2025 to 578.9 billion won this year, and 602.6 billion won in 2027 (based on the government budget proposal).

Accordingly, the redemption decision amount for fraudulent receipts of single-parent families by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is increasing every year.

The redemption decision amount for fraudulent receipts, which stood at 565 million won in 2021, jumped 68.7 percent to 953 million won in 2025.

In addition to welfare benefits, single-parent families meeting certain requirements can apply for special supplies for newlyweds in public housing or new newlyweds' hope towns, and can also receive an additional 1 million won single-parent deduction per year for income deductions, leading to the detection of related fraudulent acts.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport inspected 50 suspected complex sites among those offered in the second half of 2021 and detected 170 acts disturbing the supply order.

Among them was a case where a couple in a common-law relationship won a special supply for newlyweds (single-parent family) for one person and a special supply for first-time homebuyers with child bonus points for the other.

In the first half of 2024 fraudulent subscription inspection, a case was detected where someone won a single-parent family special supply in Wirye New Town while living in a common-law relationship without registering the marriage with a spouse who already owned two houses.

While it is true that non-marital birth rates have increased, there is no ground to directly link this to an increase in intentional marriage registration avoidance or sham divorces to receive single-parent family support.

Changes in values regarding marriage and childbirth, and the diversification of family types such as unmarried cohabitation, are cited as major backgrounds for the rise in non-marital birth rates.

According to Statistics Korea's biennial social survey, the proportion of respondents agreeing that "one can have children without getting married" rose from 22.4 percent in 2012 to 37.2 percent in 2024.

However, it is also true that concealing common-law marriages and sham divorces are managed as major fraudulent receipt risk types across social security systems as a whole.

A series of reports released by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs from 2016 to 2021 under the theme "Measures to Reduce Blind Spots in the Social Security Field and Manage Improper Expenditure" stated that concealing common-law marriages, sham divorces, and failure to report financial or business income constitute the main reasons for redemption decisions on fraudulent receipts by basic livelihood security recipients.

The reports analyzed that "it can be seen that fraudulent receipts abusing the system are increasing."

In the case of single-parent family support funds, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission presents major types of fraudulent receipts as: ▲ sham divorces while remaining a normal couple; ▲ failing to register marriage while maintaining a de facto marital relationship; ▲ concealing actual income to meet single-parent family support income criteria; and ▲ concealing assets by concentrating them on one spouse during a sham divorce.

However, compared to the total scale of support, the number of redemption decisions for fraudulent receipts itself is limited.

The target for single-parent family child-rearing expense support in 2024 was about 199,000 households, while redemption decisions for fraudulent child-rearing expense receipts in the same year stood at 862 cases.

Simple calculation puts this at about 4 cases per 1,000 households.

Moreover, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family explained that rather than intentionally hiding common-law status from the beginning, a large proportion consists of those who lost eligibility due to increased income or remarriage (including common-law) after receiving single-parent benefits, but failed to report it.

In real-life living, maintaining an unregistered marriage status after childbirth can be complicated as it may require separate procedures such as acknowledgment to establish a father-child relationship, unlike children born within a legal marriage.

Since sham divorces are also determined comprehensively based on actual cohabitation status rather than just paper divorces, it is not easy to maintain existing family relationships while being recognized for single-parent status.

An official from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family stated, "In actual redemption cases, rather than disguised single parents who never registered their marriage from the start, there are many cases where people lost their eligibility due to increased income or remarriage after acquiring single-parent family status but failed to report it," adding, "Accordingly, we conduct regular and ad-hoc investigations into personal information, income, and asset changes, and continuously guide reporting procedures upon changes to induce voluntary reporting."

Acquiring single-parent family status itself is not easy.

Looking at the 2026 Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Guide to Single-Parent Family Support Programs, eligibility checks are conducted through data investigations when applying for a single-parent family.

On-site visits may take place during this process.

First, submitting an application to a eup, myeon, or dong community center prompts the integrated investigation and management team of a si, gun, or gu to investigate the applicant's household composition, income, assets, and family relations, and query related data through the next-generation social security information system.

If necessary, additional documents may be requested or visiting investigations can be conducted to verify actual residence and living conditions.

Being selected is not the end.

To prevent fraudulent receipts, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family regularly sends text messages to recipients guiding them on the obligation to report changes in income and personal information, as well as legal penalties.

It also links with the social security information system and marriage information system to check changes in recipients' income, assets, and marital status on a regular and ad-hoc basis.

If fraudulent receipt is detected, previously received support funds are redeemed, and offenders can be subject to imprisonment of up to 1 year or a fine of up to 10 million won under the Single-Parent Family Support Act.

There is also a precedent where the Ulsan District Court in 2024 sentenced an individual named A to a fine of 6 million won for receiving about 40 million won worth of benefits including single-parent child-rearing expenses and basic housing benefits while maintaining a common-law relationship with another person after a divorce.

A reward system for reporting fraudulent receipts of single-parent child-rearing allowances has also been in operation since 2020.

Rewards ranging from 10 to 30 percent of the redemption decision amount (up to 30 million won) are paid to those who report fraudulent receipts under their real names.

According to the Collection of Corruption and Public Interest Reports and Compensation Cases published annually by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, cases were introduced where about 2 million won was allocated in 2024 and approximately 15 million won in 2022 for redemption decisions regarding fraudulent receipts of single-parent family support funds.

(Photo: Yonhap News TV, Yonhap)