Gyeonggi-do Temporarily Extends Emergency Welfare Program for COVID-19 Vulnerable Households Until September

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province will temporarily extend the operation of the 'Gyeonggi Province-type Emergency Welfare System' until September 30 to support vulnerable households facing difficulties due to COVID-19.

In January, the province relaxed the income criteria for the 'Gyeonggi Province-type Emergency Welfare System' for vulnerable residents from below 90% of the median income to below 100% (monthly income of 4.87 million KRW for a family of four). The property criteria were also eased from 257 million KRW in urban areas and 160 million KRW in rural areas to 339 million KRW in urban areas and 229 million KRW in rural areas, respectively. Additionally, the financial asset criteria were lowered from 10 million KRW to 17.314 million KRW (for a family of four).

Eligible households include ▲ those whose main income earner has died, run away, gone missing, or been detained, causing household livelihood difficulties ▲ those whose main income earner has suffered a serious illness or injury ▲ households that have lost income for more than one month, even losing employment insurance benefits ▲ small business owners with income reduced by 30% or more. For a family of four, monthly living expenses of 1.26 million KRW and medical expenses up to 5 million KRW for serious illnesses can be supported.

The province plans to focus on identifying vulnerable households during the summer season affected by heatwaves and monsoons, as well as high-risk vulnerable households reported through the welfare blind spot discovery and management system.

Moon Jeong-hee, Director of the Welfare Bureau of Gyeonggi Province, emphasized, "We will do our best to alleviate the difficulties of residents facing crises such as livelihood and medical issues by temporarily relaxing the criteria of the Gyeonggi Province-type Emergency Welfare System. We will also actively strive to ensure that vulnerable households in welfare blind spots are not neglected."

Applications for the Gyeonggi Province-type Emergency Welfare System can be made at the administrative welfare centers in the applicant's registered resident address area (eup, myeon, dong) or through the Gyeonggi Province Call Center (031-120).

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