A total of 2.23 million households applied for the 'Seoul City Disaster Emergency Living Expenses'... 79% are spending on livelihood-related consumption

Actual payments expected for 1.64 million households... 425.8 billion KRW paid to 1.25 million households
Distribution, dining, and groceries account for 79% of usage so far

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] A total of 2.23 million households applied for the 'Seoul City Disaster Emergency Living Expenses' program, which supports the livelihood stability of citizens affected by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

Seoul City announced on the 21st that from March 30 to the 15th of this month, a total of 2.23 million households applied for the Seoul City Disaster Emergency Living Expenses after the application period was completed.

The city expects that about 1.64 million households, accounting for 75% of all applicants, will receive support, while the remaining 25% will be excluded due to reasons such as exceeding income criteria. This number is about 500,000 households more than the initially estimated 1.17 million eligible households.

The number of applications from one- and two-person households was higher than expected. The city explained that this was because there were many households of college students, job seekers, irregular young workers whose income is lower than the median income (1-person household 1,757,194 KRW, 2-person household 2,991,980 KRW), as well as elderly households. Additionally, by allowing approximately 85,000 cohabitants, who are likely to be in blind spots of support, to apply as separate households, the number of eligible recipients increased.

As of the 19th, 1.25 million households had received the disaster emergency living expenses, amounting to 425.8 billion KRW. The city plans to complete payments to the remaining applicants who meet the income criteria by the 29th.

Seoul City also announced that an analysis of big data on 210.7 billion KRW spent on disaster emergency living expenses until the 17th showed that most of the spending was on 'livelihood-related consumption.' The usage in three sectors?distribution (supermarkets, convenience stores, etc.), dining (restaurants), and groceries (agricultural and marine products, butcher shops, etc.)?accounted for 79.4% of the total.

In terms of amount, 94.2 billion KRW (44.7%) was spent in the distribution sector, 46.3 billion KRW (22.0%) in the dining sector, which experienced the largest sales decline after COVID-19, and 26.7 billion KRW (12.7%) in groceries. This was followed by medical expenses (7.1%), clothing and accessories (4.6%), sports, culture, and leisure (2.0%), beauty (2.0%), and education and academy fees (1.5%).

Park Won-soon, Mayor of Seoul, said, "The Seoul City Disaster Emergency Living Expenses, which support citizens during the livelihood crisis caused by COVID-19, are expected to be paid to 1.64 million households, more than initially anticipated. This indicates that the livelihood economic crisis caused by COVID-19 is more severe than ever, and the big data analysis results show that the funds were concentrated on small-scale self-employed businesses, contributing significantly to overcoming the livelihood crisis."

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