Transition Team: "We Will Support Social Activities for Reclusive Youth Including NEETs"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] The Presidential Transition Committee is exploring various support measures to assist socially withdrawn youth, a policy-neglected group, in engaging in social activities. The intent is to establish policies for their social reintegration to prevent the worsening social issues related to withdrawn youth, including NEETs (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) who have no intention to seek jobs or work.

Jang Ye-chan, head of the Youth Communication Task Force at the Transition Committee, said at a briefing held on the 6th at the committee office in Tongui-dong, Seoul, "Socially isolated withdrawn youth are the most vulnerable group among the younger generation. Although this is an increasingly serious social problem, the issues of withdrawn youth and NEETs have been neglected and left unattended."

Jang added, "The estimated number of withdrawn youth in Korea ranges from 340,000 to a maximum of 500,000, with social costs estimated at over 500 billion KRW annually. Due to changes in the labor market and the impact of COVID-19, social isolation among youth continues to increase. However, there have been no investigations or measures at the central government level to support them. Personally, I find it surprising that the government, which established the Blue House Youth Secretary Office, has not created a single policy for socially isolated youth, the most vulnerable."

The Youth Support Task Force has decided to incorporate the 'Youth Leap Preparation Fund,' a campaign pledge, into the national agenda to help youth escape social withdrawal. The Youth Leap Preparation Fund is a system that provides leap preparation funds in voucher form to youth aged 19 to 34 and continuously monitors their participation in social activities. Jang stated, "For counseling and some cash support to help with job seeking and social reintegration, assuming 10,000 participants, the preliminary estimate is about 40 billion KRW."

Additionally, a 'Comprehensive Youth Policy Support Platform' will be established to provide an online one-stop service from policy search to application for support. Offline, a Youth Leap Base Camp will be set up to support social interaction such as career exploration and job search assistance.

Meanwhile, on the 3rd, the Youth Communication Task Force visited 'An Museoun Hoesa' (The Not Scary Company), a shared living space for youth escaping social withdrawal located in Gangbuk-gu, Seoul, to listen to the living conditions of withdrawn youth.

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