"No Welfare Blind Spots" Seoul Strengthens Care for Vulnerable Groups... Lowering Welfare Barriers to Expand Support

Inclusive Support for Vulnerable and Crisis Households Without Blind Spots
‘Seoul-type Emergency Welfare’ with Lowered Barriers Due to COVID-19 Extended Until End of June... ‘Support Obligation System’ Abolished in First Half of the Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government has decided to extend the 'Seoul-type Emergency Welfare' program, which provides up to 3 million KRW to households facing crises due to unemployment or business closure, until June this year. Additionally, it will completely abolish the support obligation system to assist vulnerable groups who have lost eligibility for basic livelihood security benefits.

On the 26th, Seoul announced the '2021 Changing Seoul Welfare' plan, which aims to lower the threshold for welfare access and significantly strengthen infrastructure and support. The goal is to include not only existing vulnerable groups but also households in crisis due to income reduction and care gaps caused by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic within the social welfare safety net, ensuring no citizen is left in blind spots.

The main points include: expansion of care services for the elderly and disabled, easing welfare access by abolishing the support obligation system, expanding welfare infrastructure, increasing customized jobs by household type, strengthening quarantine in social welfare facilities, and promoting non-face-to-face services.

First, Seoul will extend the Seoul-type Emergency Welfare program until June and, for the first time nationwide, completely abolish the support obligation system in the 'Seoul-type Basic Security System' during the first half of the year to support low-income vulnerable groups who lost eligibility for government basic livelihood security benefits.

Furthermore, to fill the growing care gap caused by COVID-19, Seoul will add 255 more personnel for elderly customized care services compared to the previous year. Elderly people and middle-aged single-person households who may be isolated or neglected will be supported through a non-face-to-face smart care system using IT technology to quickly detect and respond to crises.

Welfare infrastructure will also become more robust. The number of municipal Silver Care Centers and Dementia Specialized Support Centers for elderly people suffering from geriatric diseases will increase. Three 'Vision Centers,' which provide comprehensive support including education, care, and health management for adults with brain lesions, will open this year. Lifelong education centers for people with developmental disabilities and support centers for families with disabilities will expand to all 25 autonomous districts.

Policies to help vulnerable groups stand on their own feet will continue. 'Support housing,' which allows disabled people, homeless individuals, and elderly people to live stably in public rental housing while receiving various welfare services, will add 197 units this year. A total of about 80,000 customized jobs will be provided throughout the year, covering middle-aged people preparing for their second act in life, elderly people, and disabled individuals.

Seoul-type Emergency Welfare Extended Until June... Discovering Customized Welfare Jobs by Household

Since July last year, Seoul has lowered the support threshold for the Seoul-type Emergency Welfare policy to 100% of the median income (monthly income of 4.87629 million KRW for a four-person household) and property criteria of 326 million KRW or less, and will extend this policy until June. Eligible households can receive up to 3 million KRW for living, housing, and medical expenses.

In particular, the abolition of the support obligation criteria for elderly and single-parent households and the relaxation of income criteria in the Seoul-type Basic Security System will strengthen the welfare safety net. From January, the support obligation criteria for elderly and single-parent families will be abolished, and the income criteria will be relaxed from a monthly income of 2.042145 million KRW to 2.194331 million KRW for a four-person household. Furthermore, ahead of the central government's decision to completely abolish the support obligation criteria in 2022, Seoul plans to abolish the support obligation criteria for all households within the first half of this year.

Seoul will also support discovering and providing customized welfare jobs by household. The 61,200 public service jobs for the elderly will expand eligibility from existing basic pension recipients aged 65 and over to include medical, education, and housing benefit recipients. Including social service jobs such as support for vulnerable household chores and pet playground managers, a total of about 70,000 elderly jobs will be provided.

To secure stable jobs for disabled people, Seoul will provide 3,399 public jobs, an increase from 2,955 last year, including 260 jobs for the most severely disabled and deinstitutionalized disabled people who have been excluded from the labor market.

Expansion of Care SOS Center Support Targets

Seoul also operates the Care SOS Center, which has received positive responses by providing emergency care services such as housekeeping, nursing, meal support, and accompaniment support to elderly, disabled, and citizens aged 50 and over. Now in its third year, the center will strengthen support for citizens outside the existing eligibility criteria. Services will be provided in urgent crisis situations even if the criteria are not met, and to prevent delays caused by income verification for cost support qualification, a 'support first, verify later' approach will be adopted.

Additionally, to intensify the discovery of welfare blind spots, Seoul has subdivided all crisis households in the city into four stages and mandated periodic visits according to the degree of crisis. Households at the highest crisis level (stage 1) will be visited at least once a month, stage 2 once a quarter, and stages 3 and 4 every six months or once a year. Through regular monitoring, household conditions will be continuously assessed and crisis levels adjusted and managed.

The number of personnel for elderly customized care services protecting vulnerable elderly in the community will be increased to improve care quality. Seoul will also conduct a pilot project for activity support services for elderly disabled people, which was first implemented nationwide in Seoul last year and expanded to a central government project. Considering the rapid increase in single-person households and the COVID-19 situation making face-to-face care difficult, smart care for vulnerable groups using IoT (Internet of Things) will prevent care gaps.

Kim Seon-soon, Director of Seoul Welfare Policy Office, said, "Last year was a time when we deeply felt the need for welfare transformation due to COVID-19. Along with a solid response to infectious diseases, we will improve systems, expand infrastructure, and provide sincere welfare to citizens to create a happy Seoul for all."

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