Monthly Rent Support for 50,000 Youth and Supply of 55,000 Public Housing Units... Oh Se-hoon Announces "6.3 Trillion Won Investment in Youth Policies"

Announcement of the '2025 Seoul Youth Comprehensive Plan'... Focus on Three Key Areas: Leap, Rescue, Opportunity
2.5 Times More Projects, 8.8 Times Increased Budget
More Than 10 'Youth Employment Academy' Programs, Expansion of Private Sector Jobs Linked to Employment... 'Youth Allowance' Also Expanded and Reorganized
Annual Support for 50,000 in 'Monthly Rent Assistance', Over 55,000 Public Housing Units to be Supplied
Public Transportation Mileage for Ages 19-24... Moving Expenses and Online Content Vouchers to be Promoted in the Second Half of the Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government is set to fully launch the 'Youth Happiness Project,' increasing investment in youth to 6.3 trillion KRW?more than eight times the previous amount?and expanding the scale of projects by 2.5 times. The city plans to establish more than 10 'Youth Employment Academies' by region, expand 'Youth Monthly Rent Support' to 50,000 people, which is ten times the previous scale, and supply more than 55,000 public housing units for youth and newlyweds by 2025.

On the 23rd, Mayor Oh Se-hoon held a press briefing on the '2025 Seoul Youth Comprehensive Plan,' consisting of 50 tasks across five areas: employment, housing, education, daily life, and participation. He announced that a budget of 6.281 trillion KRW will be sequentially invested by 2025. The existing '2020 Seoul-type Youth Guarantee' policy invested 713.6 billion KRW in 20 projects across four major fields.

Mayor Oh said, "We have established a future youth planning team at the bureau level as a control tower to comprehensively coordinate scattered youth policies, setting key directions for each policy area," adding, "We will prepare policies that can practically change the overall lives of youth and support their lives as broadly and meticulously as possible."

This comprehensive plan consists of 50 tasks across five areas: employment, housing, education, daily life, and participation. In particular, the city will focus on 22 tasks in three major fields. The three major fields are ▲Youth Leap (JUMP, 7 tasks) ▲Youth Rescue (SAVE, 8 tasks) ▲Youth Opportunity (CHANCE, 7 tasks).

The Leap (JUMP) field consists of policies that support strengthening competitiveness so that youth can leap toward the future on their own, including employment, building a startup ecosystem, and career exploration. Seoul will first establish more than 10 'Youth Employment Academies,' training 10,000 practical talents aligned with corporate demand by 2025. By expanding the Seoul-type Youth Intern Job Camp until 2025, the goal is to create 1,750 jobs, 2,500 innovative future youth jobs in new industries such as zero waste, and provide 20,000 jobs through the reorganization of Seoul-type New Deal jobs.

The youth allowance will be restructured to expand the recipients and strengthen employment linkage programs. Seoul plans to remove the 'within 2 years after graduation' requirement for the youth allowance, lowering the barrier for recent university graduates and prioritizing short-term workers to provide more opportunities for working youth. Participants will be intensively connected to policy information and programs in their desired fields, and personalized counseling tailored to individual circumstances will be supported. The 'Youth Life Planning School' will also be enhanced to provide various programs for self-exploration and career planning, enabling youth transitioning from formal education to society to independently plan their lives.

Monthly Rent Support Expanded to 50,000 People Annually... More Than 55,000 Public Housing Units to be Supplied

In the Youth Rescue (SAVE) field, three main areas will be focused on: ▲systematic asset formation support ▲strengthening housing safety nets ▲mental health support. Seoul will expand 'Seoul Young Tech,' which had about 1,300 youth participants two months after its launch, to 10,000 people this year?eight times last year's scale?and support 50,000 people by 2025. The 'Hope Double Youth Account,' which matches 100% of the savings amount to double it, has doubled its support target (3,000 people in 2020 → 7,000 people in 2021), and from this year, the income criteria for dependents have been abolished, planning to support 35,000 people by 2025.

To alleviate housing insecurity among youth, the city will also build a detailed housing safety net. More than 55,000 public housing units for youth and newlyweds will be supplied by 2025. The highly popular 'Youth Monthly Rent Support' will be expanded to 50,000 people annually, ten times the original scale starting this year, and the budget for interest support on jeonse (key money deposit) loans will be increased by 35% compared to the previous year, supporting more than 50,000 people this year. To prevent youth from suffering losses by not receiving their jeonse deposits back, support for subscribing to the 'Jeonse and Monthly Rent Deposit Insurance' will also begin this year.

Mayor Oh explained, "We have allocated more than twice the budget for station-area youth housing compared to last year, planning to supply 48,000 units by 2025, and will supply 2,100 youth purchase rental housing units starting this year, reaching 7,200 units. Youth monthly rent support will be provided to 223,000 people by 2025, and interest support on rental deposits will be provided to 103,542 people."

Seoul will also expand the scale of the 'Mental Health Project' support from 2,000 to 7,000 people, more than tripling it, and introduce a systematic online self-screening system to strengthen customized support. In particular, support for isolated and reclusive youth will increase more than fourfold from about 300 people last year to 1,200 this year. To design more precise policies, Seoul will conduct the nation's first survey on isolated and reclusive youth and introduce a 'Social Isolation Scale' to provide systematic and customized support according to the degree of isolation.

Public Transportation Mileage Program Starts in April... Up to 400,000 KRW Moving Expense Support per Person in the Second Half of the Year

The Youth Opportunity (CHANCE) field includes support measures to alleviate economic burdens youth face in daily life, such as transportation and moving costs. Seoul will start a program in April that returns 20% of public transportation expenses as transportation mileage to ease the burden on young people in their early 20s who lose public transportation discounts when transitioning from adolescence to adulthood. Support will begin this year for 150,000 people aged 19 to 24 and expand to 300,000 people by 2025.

Additionally, in the second half of this year, moving expenses worth up to 400,000 KRW per person will be supported for youth who frequently move and face high costs. The city will also start providing online content usage vouchers worth 100,000 KRW annually for software downloads, thesis searches, and e-book purchases. Since the 'Partial Amendment to the Seoul Youth Basic Ordinance,' which serves as the basis for moving expense support and online content voucher projects, was passed by the city council and came into effect in March this year, Seoul plans to implement these programs in the second half of the year after consultations with related organizations and supplementary budget allocations.

In April, Seoul will open the online platform 'Youth All-in-One Information,' where 1,800 youth policies promoted by Seoul city and the central government can be searched in one place, and youth can timely apply for policies they need and receive benefits. This is a one-stop platform integrating all youth policy information, from personalized information search to application, reception, and processing.

Furthermore, to incorporate youth perspectives throughout city administration, opportunities for youth policy participation will be expanded. The city plans to increase youth-friendly committees, where youth members make up more than 10%, from the current 27 to 150 this year?more than fivefold?while also regularizing the 'Youth Policy Grand Debate,' which attracted attention by allowing youth to propose policy ideas through debate battles and adopting excellent policies as city policies.

Mayor Oh Se-hoon said, "Since taking office in April last year, I have worked hard to keep promises made to youth," adding, "A society where youth lose their dreams has no future. Seoul will create 'Youth Seoul' so that the 2030 youth generation, who live feeling unfairness and inequality with their whole bodies, can have hope and sing the spring again."

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