Chungnam Eases Living Stability Fund Payment Criteria to '120% of Median Income'

[Asia Economy (Naepo) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The payment criteria for Chungnam Province's emergency living stabilization funds will be raised from 80% to 120% of the median income.

The province announced on the 17th that it will supplement the payment criteria for living stabilization funds to expand the beneficiaries, considering the prolonged situation of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) crisis.

If the previously set 80% of the median income is maintained, low-income workers will be excluded, as the income of a single-person household falls below the minimum wage.

Accordingly, the province changed the standard income so that workers who are unemployed, on unpaid leave or suspension, special-type workers, and freelancers can receive living stabilization funds if their monthly income is 2,109,000 KRW or less based on a single-person household.

In particular, by linking the criteria for special-type workers and freelancers with the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s ‘Regional Employment Response Special Support,’ the submission documents are unified to simplify procedures, and for the small business sector, data for verifying the number of regular employees is provided by the National Health Insurance Service and sent to the relevant city or county to facilitate convenience for applicants.

Through this, in the region, substitute drivers who are not enrolled in employment insurance can receive living stabilization funds only if they worked more than 10 days in January and their income decreased by 20% compared to February or March.

To prove this, they must submit a substitute driving service consignment contract and three months’ worth of data from the substitute driving app or monthly call operation records.

The application period for the emergency living stabilization funds is until the 24th (until the 8th of next month for Asan). For more details, refer to the announcement on the website of the city or county with jurisdiction over the applicant’s residence.

A provincial official said, “By raising the median income application criteria, we expect the scope of benefits for low-income workers receiving living stabilization funds to expand,” and added, “Although the required documents may be somewhat complicated, we urge eligible individuals not to give up and to obtain the necessary documents and apply.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.