Busan City Supports Low-Income Families with 'Customized Welfare Services for Basic Livelihood Security'

Busan-Type Basic Security System to Strengthen Income Safety Net for Non-Recipient Poor

Relaxation of Support Obligation for Medical Benefit Recipients and Selection Criteria for Housing Benefit Recipients

Busan City Hall.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Dooyul] Busan City has established the "2022 Basic Livelihood Security Project Implementation Plan" to support customized welfare services for low-income groups.

The main contents include ▲ Busan-type Basic Security System to strengthen the income safety net for non-beneficiary poor households ▲ Busan-type Emergency Welfare Support for livelihood crisis households to support the phased recovery from COVID-19 ▲ Promotion of city-funded special support projects to reduce the economic burden on low-income residents vulnerable to various crises.

The Busan-type Basic Security System will relax the selection criteria from 40% to 45% of the standard median income by reflecting field experts' opinions and research results from the Busan Welfare Development Institute, and will also abolish the support obligor criteria.

Exclusions apply to households with support obligors earning over 100 million KRW annually or owning assets over 900 million KRW.

The city plans to improve the system by raising the maximum monthly livelihood benefit for single-person households from 219,000 KRW to 262,000 KRW, thereby strengthening the protection function for the increasing non-beneficiary poor.

The Busan-type Emergency Welfare Support project will continue to be promoted to respond to COVID-19 and support phased daily recovery.

The selection criteria have been significantly expanded compared to the government emergency welfare support project, with a standard median income of 100% or less, assets of 350 million KRW or less, and financial assets of 10 million KRW or less.

Households experiencing livelihood crises such as unemployment can receive emergency livelihood expenses up to three times, with a maximum of 488,000 KRW for single-person households, within 72 hours.

Low-income households facing difficulties in responding to various crises despite receiving government support will be provided with 304,000 KRW annually for transportation costs for middle and high school children and 100,000 KRW annually for winter heating expenses to support stable living.

Starting in March, the city will conduct the "2022 Busan Welfare Status Survey" to investigate citizens' welfare needs and living environments, and based on the survey, plans to prepare policies suitable for realizing a happy welfare city.

Busan City reflects the 5.02% increase in the 2022 standard median income, amounting to 1,945,000 KRW for single-person households, and will provide up to 583,000 KRW in livelihood benefits to recipients of the National Basic Livelihood Security Program for single-person households.

Some support obligor criteria for medical benefit recipients will be relaxed, and the support obligor criteria will be abolished for basic pension recipients in support obligor households.

Additionally, prenatal and childbirth medical expenses will be increased, providing 1 million KRW for one birth and 1.4 million KRW for two or more births, with the scope expanded to cover all medical treatments and medication purchases.

From this year, the selection criteria for housing benefit recipients will also be relaxed to 46% or less of the standard median income.

Rental benefits for single-person households will provide up to 201,000 KRW, and educational activity support for education benefit recipients will be increased by up to 23.9%, providing 331,000 KRW for elementary, 466,000 KRW for middle, and 554,000 KRW for high school students.

Park Hyung-jun, Mayor of Busan, said, "We will strive to build a more robust social safety net through customized welfare services for low-income households vulnerable to crises."

For detailed inquiries regarding the basic livelihood security projects promoted by the city, please contact the welfare departments of district and county offices or the administrative welfare centers in eup, myeon, and dong.

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