The South Korea's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a recommendation to the Daegu Metropolitan Transit Corporation to revise its family allowance policies that discriminate based on the birth order of children. The NHRC highlighted that the existing policies provided family allowances exclusively to elder sons and daughters residing with their parents, while imposing different criteria on younger siblings. Additionally, funeral supplies were only provided upon the death of biological grandparents, raising concerns over unequal treatment in such benefits. These findings were prompted by a complaint from an employee of the corporation, who argued that there was no reasonable basis for the differing treatment of family relationships.

The NHRC's recommendation was based on the assertion that the existing criteria for family allowances and funeral supplies were discriminatory. It noted that the treatment of family relationships should not hinge solely on the birth order or on the traditional view that the responsibility of supporting elderly parents lies with the eldest son or daughter. The commission stated that family structures and support systems have diversified over time, thus necessitating a reconsideration of existing policies that rely on outdated assumptions.

In response to the NHRC's findings, the Daegu Metropolitan Transit Corporation claimed that the policies were established based on the socio-cultural context where elder siblings traditionally bear greater financial responsibilities and that these rules are grounded in collective bargaining agreements. They also argued that the current criteria were developed to provide practical benefits to a broad range of employees within the limits of their budget. However, the NHRC emphasized that the discriminatory nature of the allowance criteria should be revised to better reflect today's varied family dynamics and the realities of financial support among family members.