'Relaxed Eligibility Criteria'... Goyang Special City to Increase 'Welfare Beneficiaries'

Livelihood Benefits Provided Even with Support Obligors... City Identifies New Eligible Recipients

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Since the launch of the special city status on the 13th of last month, 'Goyang Special City' has been eligible for metropolitan-level social welfare benefits, including relaxed support criteria.

According to Goyang City on the 17th, the basic property deduction amount for Goyang City, which had previously been applied under the small and medium-sized city standards, was 42 million KRW.

However, after the launch of the special city status, it was raised to 69 million KRW, the metropolitan standard, enabling low-income households who previously could not receive livelihood benefits despite financial difficulties to receive benefits.

For existing livelihood benefit recipients, the increase in the deduction amount due to the relaxed support criteria is expected to increase the livelihood benefit amount. As of last month, new applicants increased by 3.5% and benefit amounts increased by about 8% compared to December of the previous year.

In October of last year, the support obligation criteria for selecting basic livelihood security livelihood benefits were abolished. If one's income and property are below 30% of the median income standard, livelihood benefits can be received regardless of the presence of a support obligor.

However, those with support obligors who are high-income earners exceeding 100 million KRW annually or whose property exceeds 900 million KRW (excluding financial assets) are excluded.

Since the abolition of the support obligor criteria, the number of new applicants in Goyang City has continuously increased by more than 7%.

The near-poor class has also been able to benefit more households due to the increase in the basic property deduction amount following the launch of Goyang Special City.

Although the near-poor class does not receive monthly cash assistance, they can receive benefits such as grain discounts, local job projects, disability allowances (for registered disabled persons), Culture Nuri Cards, mobile phone fee discounts, and education support.

The city plans to request a list of previously disqualified and excluded persons from the Ministry of Health and Welfare to identify welfare recipients who can receive benefits and encourage them to reapply for various supports.

Lee Jae-jun, Mayor of Goyang City, said, "With the launch of Goyang Special City, we will actively work to eliminate welfare blind spots so that no citizen struggles to maintain their livelihood," and added, "We will do our best to discover practical support measures."

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