The Seoul city government will provide 900-thousand won, or about 620 U.S. dollars, in maternity leave benefits to freelancers and owners of one-person businesses. 

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Thursday that it will begin accepting applications for the benefits Tuesday. 

Seoul is the first city in the nation to take this step, which is part of efforts to raise the low birth rates. 

The assistance supplements existing maternity benefits that freelancers and others without employment insurance receive from the labor ministry.

That means freelancers in Seoul could receive two-point-four million won in combined maternity leave benefits from the city and the ministry.

Based on 2023 data from the labor ministry on maternity benefits paid to individuals without employment insurance, the latest support measure could affect an estimated two-thousand-60 people this year.

Also under the new measure, self-employed people, freelancers and platform workers can receive up to 800-thousand won in spousal maternity leave benefits.