Korean Childbirth Credit Allocation | Couple Pension Comparison

Which spouse should receive the childbirth credit?

The Korean National Pension childbirth credit adds eligible months to a pension coverage record.
It is not a cash payment at childbirth or a contribution deposited in full into both spouses’ accounts.
The credit is recognized when old-age pension entitlement arises, including cases where the additional months enable the person to satisfy the minimum coverage period.

Where both parents are current or former National Pension participants, an agreement can allocate the entire credit to one parent.
Without agreement, the statutory rule is equal allocation.
This calculator compares all to the husband, all to the wife and an equal split using the same inputs, including coverage, estimated monthly benefits, household cash flow and a conditional survivor scenario.

Korean 2026 rules: start with the 120-month threshold

A small increase for a spouse with a long contribution history can have a different effect from enabling the other spouse to reach 120 months.
Read each person’s credited period and shortfall before comparing household totals.
The period check uses your inputs and does not replace National Pension Service (NPS) verification of coverage or a formal award of entitlement.

Records and assumptions to prepare

Acquisition month for every common child

Use the eligible birth or adoption acquisition month shown by the relevant family records.
Include children acquired before 2008 because transitional rules depend on the full history.
Multiple children may share a month; the calculation orders the records by acquisition month.
Complex adoption or family histories need individual NPS review.

Coverage and personal average income B

Separate currently credited months from additional planned months.
Exclude the childbirth months being compared here to avoid counting them twice.
B is the revalued average standard monthly income for the personal coverage record, not necessarily current salary or a monthly pension deposit.

Claiming age and assumed age at death

Check the normal pension age for each birth year before selecting early, normal or deferred claiming.
Example ages of 85 and 90 are editable scenario assumptions.
They are not official life-table estimates, individual life expectancy forecasts or predictions of when either spouse will die.

Average income A and discount rate

The default A value is the official 2026 amount, KRW 3,193,511.
It is a current-price assumption rather than a guarantee of the A value in a future claiming year.
The discount rate is your assumption for expressing later payments in reference-year value.

Distinguish pre-2008 history and the 2026 expansion

First child acquired during 2008–2025

The former schedule gives 12 months for two children, 30 for three and 48 for four, subject to a 50-month cap thereafter.
For a household whose first child was acquired in this period, the transitional rule removes that cap for the additional child acquired from 2026.
For example, five children acquired by the end of 2025 can provide 50 months; a sixth acquired in 2026 adds 18, giving 68 months in this comparison.
A person who had already acquired old-age entitlement before 2026 needs separate review of the statutory exception.

First child acquired from January 2026

The expanded schedule starts with 12 months for the first child.
If the second child is also acquired in 2026, the total is 24 months.
Each child after the second adds 18 months, without applying the former 50-month cap.
A second child acquired from 2027 is governed by the next section instead.

First child acquired before 2008

If there was one child by the end of 2007, that child is combined with children acquired from 2008 to apply the second-child 12 months and later-child 18 months.
If there were already two or more by the end of 2007, each child acquired from 2008 provides 18 months, subject to the former 50-month cap.
Entering only the children acquired after 2008 would lose this distinction.
Include the full history and confirm eligibility with NPS.

The 2027 second-child rule is a future scenario

Act No. 22096 was promulgated on 2026-10-20; its amendment to Article 19(1) takes effect on 2027-01-01.
An API text displaying 15 months for the second child does not make that amount retroactive to a second child acquired in 2026.
The calculator distinguishes the effective date using the entered acquisition month.

First child from 2026

When the second child is acquired from January 2027, the first-child 12 months plus second-child 15 months give a total of 27 months.
Each child after the second adds 18 months.

First child by the end of 2025

The transitional provision also covers a second child acquired from January 2027 where the first was acquired by the end of 2025.
The total starts at 15 months, with 18 added for each later child.
It does not retroactively add a first-child 12 months.

Odd totals such as 15 or 27 months require NPS confirmation of the actual unit used for an equal allocation.
The verified legislation does not establish a rounding, truncation or day-conversion method for the half month.
The equal plan’s threshold, monthly pension and present value are therefore withheld, together with an overall ranking of all three plans.
The calculator does not treat 7.5 or 13.5 months as a confirmed legal coverage period.

Why full allocation can change the minimum-period result

The total credit is shared between the parents; it is not duplicated in full for each parent.
For the ordinary case where both have a National Pension participation history, compare the three allocation plans.
If only one has participated, review allocation to that person.
If neither has participated, or the family history is complex, individual NPS confirmation comes first.

Worked period example: 108 existing months and 12 credit months

Allocating the full credit to the spouse with 108 months gives 108 + 12 = 120 months.
An equal split gives each spouse 6 months, so that person reaches 108 + 6 = 114 months and remains 6 months short.
Allocating everything to the other spouse leaves the 108-month record unchanged.

This can affect the period requirement for entitlement, rather than merely adding a small monthly amount.
Check whether the credit can complete the period before concentrating on the household total.
The conclusion changes if planned months are not actually recognized or refunded contribution periods have not been restored.

Credited income and the monthly pension model

The standard monthly income recognized for childbirth credit months is the full A value.
Adding only the months while leaving B unchanged would miss the change in average income.
The model therefore weights the original B and the credit-period A by their respective months.
If B exceeds A, the new average can fall, but the increase in coverage must be assessed at the same time.

1. Coverage and weighted income

m = existing months + additional planned months
t = m + allocated childbirth months c
New B = (m × original B + c × A) ÷ t

Exclude this comparison’s childbirth credit from both existing and planned months.
A zero-period record is handled separately to avoid division by zero.

2. Compare using the 2026 representative formula

Monthly basic amount = 1.29 × (A + new B) × [1 + 0.05 × max(t − 240, 0) ÷ 12] ÷ 12
Normal old-age amount = monthly basic amount × min(t ÷ 240, 1)

A record below 120 total months is shown as KRW 0 for old-age benefits in this comparison.
A period proportion applies from 120 to 239 months, and excess-period additions apply beyond 240.
For an independent example with A = B = KRW 3,000,000, normal monthly benefits are KRW 322,500 at 120 months and KRW 645,000 at 240 months.

This simplified model uses a uniform representative coefficient of 1.29 across the entire record.
It does not reproduce historical contribution-year coefficients, actual revaluation factors, pension ceilings or dependent supplements.
An amount displayed to the nearest won is still an estimate.
Compare each plan with an official NPS pension estimate before making an allocation decision.

Claim timing, fixed-price totals and present value

Early and deferred claiming

The timing assumption reduces early benefits by 0.5% per month, equivalent to 6% per year.
Deferral adds 0.6% per month, or 7.2% per year, for up to five years.
Early-claim income conditions and deferral application requirements must be satisfied separately.
Selecting an age does not establish approval to claim at that age.

Payment total and present value

The fixed-price total adds the assumed monthly payments across the modeled lifetime.
It is not a forecast of future nominal pension payments indexed for inflation.
Present value divides each monthly cash flow by (1 + discount rate)^(months after the reference month ÷ 12).
At a 0% discount rate, the two totals are equal.

The reference year is 2026.
As inputs use birth year and age, claiming and death events are simplified to January of the relevant year.
This does not calculate an exact birthday-based claim date or first payment month.
Equal results should be read as a tie, while zero credit months mean there is no allocation effect.
Change the assumed death ages, claiming ages and discount rate to see whether the ordering is sensitive to your assumptions.

Separate survivor benefits after the first death

Survivor benefits have separate contribution, financial dependency and survivor-eligibility requirements.
Remarriage, age or income may cause a benefit to cease or be suspended.
The survivor setting assumes the relevant conditions are met and payments are uninterrupted.
The calculator does not automatically reject every short record or establish survivor entitlement merely by adding childbirth months.

The basic amount and payment-rate period differ

The survivor basic pension amount is calculated using coverage and income excluding childbirth credit.
If the deceased had already acquired old-age entitlement, the additional credited months are included when selecting the survivor payment-rate band.
The rates are 40% below ten years, 50% from ten to under twenty years, and 60% from twenty years.
Adding the credit to the survivor basic amount as well would overstate the result.

Do not simply add both pensions in full

Once the surviving spouse also has their own old-age benefit, the model compares that pension plus 30% of the survivor pension with the survivor pension alone.
Before the survivor’s own old-age payment starts, it assumes the survivor pension alone.
Deferred-claim uplifts are not inherited through the survivor calculation.
Where an old-age beneficiary dies, the deceased’s actual old-age amount also limits the survivor benefit.
Confirm entitlement at death and potential suspension with NPS.

Read basic-pension and health-insurance review flags

Korean Basic Pension linkage

150% of the 2026 standard Basic Pension amount of KRW 349,700 is KRW 524,550.
An old-age National Pension amount above that line is a reason to check the applicable records, not an automatic calculation of a reduction.
The A-related benefit component, assessed income, couple reductions and exceptions also matter.
The A income value used in this calculator is different from the A-related benefit component used in Basic Pension assessment.

Dependent health-insurance income review

The screen checks whether annual public-pension income plus the entered other annual income exceeds KRW 20,000,000.
This is an income-review signal, not a full dependent-status decision.
Business income, assets, dependency requirements and the income conditions applying to both spouses also need review.
Being at or below KRW 20 million does not confirm continued dependent status.

Actual Basic Pension reductions and health-insurance premiums are not subtracted from the payment totals or present values.
Results compare assumed gross National Pension payments and can differ from the allocation that maximizes after-tax disposable income.
When a flag appears, take the pension estimate and the related benefit or insurance records to the relevant agency for a separate assessment.

Step-by-step use and the next action

Enter the eligible acquisition month for every common child from family records.
Keep a planned future child distinct from an already verified current record when interpreting the result.
Verify each spouse’s coverage excluding childbirth credit and their personal average income B.
Enter additional planned months only after reviewing whether catch-up or voluntary contributions can actually be made and recognized.
Set claiming ages and assumed death ages, then inspect the 120-month checks first.
Next read the monthly household amount while both are alive and after the first death.
Compare fixed-price totals and present values, then vary lifespan and discount assumptions.
Do not finalize an ordering while record verification or the equal-allocation unit remains unresolved.
Download the consultation summary and ask NPS, by calling 1355 or visiting a branch, to confirm the estimated benefits for each plan.
Prepare coverage and family records and confirm the allocation-agreement procedure when claiming.

The ordinary deadline for submitting an allocation agreement is within one month from the old-age pension claim.
Failure to submit within that period is treated as no agreement under the rule.
Do not confuse this with an application that must be filed immediately after childbirth.
Confirm exceptions for justified circumstances and the actual filing deadline with NPS.

Cases requiring a hold or individual review

Supported timing scenarios

Both modeled payment-start years must be 2026 or later, and each assumed age at death must exceed that person’s claiming age.
Death before old-age payment starts is outside this comparison’s supported scope.
Every child acquisition month must be strictly before January of the earlier modeled payment-start year.
The model does not retroactively credit children acquired after old-age entitlement arose.

Because yearly events are simplified to January, each person’s additional planned months cannot exceed (payment-start year − 2026) × 12 months.
This check prevents a timing contradiction; it does not approve actual contributions or recognition of the planned period.

Where coverage excluding childbirth credit is zero months, the survivor basic amount cannot be estimated.
Calculation is available only after explicitly selecting a scenario with no survivor payment from that person.
Meeting an old-age coverage requirement using credit alone is separate from survivor eligibility.
Selecting that scenario does not establish that an actual survivor benefit would be refused.

Children from earlier marriages, dissolved adoptions, children already credited to another parent or excluded children require individual review.
The general calculation assumes eligible common children whose records can be recognized by NPS.
A household with old-age entitlement established before 2026, or benefits already in payment, should confirm transitional rules and whether an existing allocation can be changed.
A new allocation comparison is not the same procedure as changing a previous determination.
If participation history or eligible-child records remain unverified, arithmetic outputs do not justify a finalized ranking.
Do not enter an uncertain period as an established coverage record.
Future contributions and planned births create conditional scenarios.
Later law changes, A values, revaluation, actual survival and payment interruptions can all change the outcome.

Read the comparison as a way to distinguish minimum-period decisions from outcomes that depend on cash-flow assumptions.
If full allocation appears helpful, also ask whether catch-up or voluntary participation could close the shortfall under an equal plan.
The cost and legal recognition of those additional contributions require a separate calculation and agency confirmation.

Frequently asked questions

Can both spouses receive the entire 12 months?

If the total credit is 12 months, the ordinary comparison assigns all 12 to one parent by agreement or 6 to each without agreement.
It does not duplicate the entire credit for both spouses.

Does a first child in 2025 and second in 2026 give 24 months?

The expansion that starts with the first child applies where the first is acquired from January 2026.
For a first child in 2025 and a second in 2026, this model uses the former second-child 12 months.
It does not retroactively create a total of 24 months.

Can a second child in 2027 qualify for 15 months if the first was much earlier?

The transitional provision covers a first child acquired by the end of 2025 and a second acquired from January 2027.
The total starts at 15 months and adds 18 for each later child.
Confirm the implemented rules and actual eligible record when claiming.

Can the credit bring a person to ten years for the first time?

Article 19 includes cases where additional credit enables old-age entitlement.
The period example 108 + 12 = 120 months illustrates that situation.
NPS must still verify recognized months, age and the other applicable conditions.

Why is the equal plan withheld for 15 or 27 months?

The equal-allocation principle does not by itself establish how an odd month is recorded in practice.
The model avoids using an invented rounding rule or a half month to decide the legal 120-month threshold.
That plan and the overall ranking await NPS confirmation.

Does a larger National Pension automatically reduce Basic Pension?

A benefit exceeding 150% of the standard Basic Pension amount does not determine the actual reduction by itself.
The A-related benefit component, assessed income and other records are needed.
The calculator flags further review and does not deduct an assumed Basic Pension loss.

Will I receive my own pension plus all of the deceased spouse’s pension?

Concurrent-benefit adjustment can apply.
The comparison is generally the survivor’s own old-age pension plus 30% of the survivor pension, or the survivor pension alone.
Eligibility and suspension rules for the deceased and surviving spouse require separate confirmation.

Should I file the agreement immediately based on the ranking?

The result follows your assumptions and a simplified pension formula.
Obtain NPS estimates for the allocation alternatives, review Basic Pension, health-insurance and survivor conditions, and confirm the agreement deadline before deciding.
Unverified records or unresolved equal-allocation units prevent a finalized ranking.

Official sources and rule dates

Sources were checked on 2026-11-07.
The model distinguishes current Korean 2026 rules from the promulgated provisions effective 2027-01-01 using child acquisition months.
Recheck the conditions in Act No. 8541 Supplementary Article 19, Act No. 20903 Supplementary Article 3 and Act No. 22096 Supplementary Article 3, together with later amendments at the time of claiming.

National Pension Act, official text — Articles 19, 51, 56, 61–63 and 72–76, plus supplementary provisions; statute ID001781/MST291347, promulgated 2026-10-20.
National Pension Act Enforcement Rule, Article 12 — allocation-agreement procedure, effective 2026-02-13.
NPS childbirth credit guidance and A value and pension calculation guidance — eligible periods and the 2026 A value.
NPS article-by-article commentary — printed page106/PDF page114, distinguishing childbirth credit in the survivor basic amount and payment-rate period.
Basic Pension selection and standard-amount notice — 2026 standard amount KRW349,700, Notice2026-156 effective2026-07-30.
National Health Insurance Act Enforcement Rule, Annex1-2 — dependent income and asset conditions; current text effective2026-09-28.

Prepare records and an allocation consultation

Use the comparison to identify which records and alternatives to discuss.
If one spouse is close to the minimum period, review each plan’s remaining months and possible additional contributions first.
Then examine claim timing and survivor-payment assumptions.
A consultation summary and family records make the questions for NPS more concrete.

Review coverage and estimates with NPS

1. Acquisition months of all shared children

2. Husband: coverage and payment assumptions

3. Wife: coverage and payment assumptions

4. Common amounts and present-value assumptions

Additional childbirth coverage: 12 months

All to husband

All to wife

Equal, no agreement

Overall ranking withheld