United Future Party "Cash Support Should Be Consolidated and Eligibility Expanded"... Suggesting Direction for Basic Income

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hye-min] The Economic Innovation Committee of the United Future Party proposed a poverty alleviation plan that consolidates cash support systems and provides basic income up to 50% of the median income, the relative poverty line. This represents the basic direction of the United Future Party's basic income system.

On the afternoon of the same day, the Economic Innovation Committee held an Innovation Agenda Forum titled "Overcoming Division and Despair Toward the Future" at the National Assembly Members' Office Building. Emergency Response Committee Chairman Kim Jong-in attended the forum to lend support.

The Economic Innovation Committee presented "Inclusive Economy, Dynamic Economy, and Sustainable Economy" as the three pillars of economic innovation. The forum focused on the "Inclusive Economy" pillar. Specifically, innovation tasks in education, welfare, and labor sectors were discussed. Yoon Hee-sook, Chairperson of the Economic Innovation Committee, stated, "The Korean economy is facing structural changes both domestically and internationally," adding, "It is time for self-driven change."

A notable aspect is that the committee began exploring the issue of social polarization, which is the downside of economic growth. The Economic Innovation Committee particularly focused on poverty issues. Chairperson Yoon said, "Poverty is the painful finger of prosperity," explaining, "As the responsibility of the younger generation to economically support their parents breaks down, many elderly live in poverty and loneliness in goshi villages during their twilight years. The future of the current working poor is expected to be similar."

The Economic Innovation Committee set the goal of "ensuring that the entire impoverished population can escape poverty and secure an income level that allows for a healthy life." To achieve this, they argued that "overlapping and fragmented cash support systems must be consolidated, and a decisive era of income support must be initiated."

After consolidating cash support systems, they proposed establishing a single income support system to secure funding and raising the income support threshold to 50% of the median income, the relative poverty line, to eliminate blind spots in poverty support. According to the Economic Innovation Committee, the target beneficiaries under this criterion would be 3,285,000 households (6.1 million people). The estimated required budget is about 21 trillion won. For reference, the current population receiving livelihood support through the Basic Livelihood Security System is 836,000 households (1.26 million people).

This contrasts with Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung's basic income design, which proposes maintaining existing welfare systems and providing cash payments to all citizens through new tax items and tax increases. The United Future Party's basic income design focuses on concentrating income support on those below the relative poverty line to ensure no one lives in poverty.

However, the Economic Innovation Committee noted, "This income guarantee system cannot be considered complete," adding, "As technological changes advance significantly, reducing the need for human labor, or as signs emerge of many businesses closing and jobs disappearing due to events like COVID-19, income support methods must continue to evolve."

The committee suggested, "We must monitor structural transitions arising from the interaction of technological changes and socio-economic structures and adjust the scope and concept of guaranteed income accordingly." To this end, they proposed establishing a "Future Social Security and Basic Income Task Force Responding to Technological Change" at the party level.

In addition, the Economic Innovation Committee plans to soon announce the final version of the economic innovation plan, which will include contents on "Dynamic Economy" and "Sustainable Economy."

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