20,000 Selected for 'Seoul Youth Allowance'... 51% Are Job Seekers Within 2 Years After Graduation

30,000 Applicants for Youth Allowance, 20,000 Selected... First Payment on 29th
About 3,000 Short-term Working Youth Prioritized for Stable Employment Preparation Support

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government has completed the selection of 20,000 participants for the Seoul Youth Allowance and will make the first payment on the 29th.

According to Seoul City on the 28th, there was a high response with 31,523 applicants during the application period held in March. In particular, starting this year, the condition of ‘2 years after graduation’ was abolished, and applicants who had graduated less than 2 years ago accounted for 51% of the total, showing that young people who could not immediately connect to employment after graduation have a high demand for the policy.

Additionally, from this year, Seoul prioritized selecting 2,833 short-term workers (14% of the total) who work 26 hours or less per week or for 3 months or less, as part of strengthening support for working youth. This included young people working part-time for livelihood and those working as interns to gain experience in their fields of interest. Seoul City plans to actively support participants engaged in short-term work to move beyond temporary jobs and secure employment in their desired positions through the Youth Allowance.

To enhance the effectiveness of the program beyond simple cash support, a survey on areas of interest was conducted among Youth Allowance applicants. The ‘career and employment’ field showed the highest interest. As concerns about career and employment issues deepened, interest in ‘mental and physical health’ was also high. Among the 31,523 applicants surveyed, 24,174 (77%) showed interest in ‘career and employment,’ 9,226 (29%) in ‘health’ (mental/physical), and 8,407 (27%) in ‘economy,’ in that order.

The results of program-linked applications introduced this year were similar to the survey results on areas of interest. The ‘Youth Challenge Support Project,’ which promotes job-seeking activities and helps restore confidence for young people facing difficulties entering society, had the highest number of applicants. Additionally, many youths wished to participate in the ‘Youth Mental Health Support Project,’ which provides one-on-one counseling by experts for psychologically anxious youth, and ‘Seoul Young Tech,’ which offers customized financial technology counseling.

Kim Cheol-hee, head of the Seoul Future Youth Planning Team, said, “Through the high interest and demand of Seoul youth for youth policies, we were able to once again confirm the difficulties young people currently face and what kind of help they need. We will strive to provide comprehensive financial and non-financial support reflecting the demands of Seoul youth to offer practical assistance to young people moving toward their goals.”

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