'Dementia care package,' bigger homes for new parents among winning ideas in population policy contest

Ideas ranging from an integrated care package for families of dementia patients — bundling psychological counseling, depression screening and caregiving information at the moment of diagnosis — to a short-term bridge guarantee covering the funding gap between the return of a jeonse deposit and the closing payment on a new home poured in as the public weighed in on how to tackle South Korea's low birth rate and aging population.

The Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy announced Monday the results of its "Population Policy and Slogan Contest to Change My Life," which ran from May 11 to May 25.

After expert review assessing feasibility and effectiveness, the committee selected six policy winners — one first-place, two second-place and three third-place entries — along with one first-place slogan.

The top policy prize went to "Integrated Dementia Family Care," an idea designed to close gaps in support for elderly couples dealing with dementia. The proposal calls for providing caregivers with a bundled package of psychological counseling, depression screening and caregiving resources at the time of a dementia diagnosis, so that caregivers themselves receive support alongside the patient.

One of the two second-place winners was "Middle-Aged Care Micro-Credentials," a proposal to break caregiving work into task-based units — such as accompanying patients to hospital appointments — and grant middle-aged workers a caregiving qualification after short-term training and practical experience.

The other second-place entry proposed a "Birth-Linked Housing Upgrade and Public Residential Mobility Mileage" scheme, which would allow families in public housing to move to a larger unit upon having a child and waive concessions such as moving fees for relocations prompted by childbirth.

Two of the three third-place winners also addressed housing: the "Baby-Up Housing Transition Program," which would lower mortgage interest rates upon the birth of a child, and the "First Home Bridge Guarantee," which would provide short-term financing to cover the funding gap arising from mismatched closing dates when moving into a new home. The third entry, a "University-Linked Local Credit Exchange Program," would award academic credits to students from Greater Seoul universities who stay in population-declining regions and carry out local revitalization projects such as promoting regional specialty products.

The top slogan prize went to "Our child's laughter, the sound that connects our family" — a phrase meant to convey how a child's laughter sustains and deepens a family's happiness.

The contest received 7,529 entries in total — 1,687 policy proposals and 5,842 slogan submissions. Among the policy proposals, 1,028 (61 percent) addressed the low birth rate, 334 (19.8 percent) focused on aging, and 325 (19 percent) dealt with population decline.

By single topic, "childcare, caregiving and work-life balance" drew the most proposals at 416, followed by "marriage and childbirth support" and "regional depopulation response."

Particularly notable was the volume of practical, everyday proposals rooted in difficulties people face in daily life — covering marriage preparation, childbirth and child-rearing, caring for aging parents, and young people's independence and employment.

Winning entries will be published on the committee's website, blog and social media channels including Facebook and Instagram. Encouragement award and participation award recipients will be notified individually.

Kim Jin-o, vice chair of the committee, said many of the submissions were effective proposals grounded in the real experiences of those who submitted them. "We will carefully review the outstanding proposals and actively work with relevant ministries to develop them into concrete policies," he said.