Seoul City to Recruit 1,100 New Households for Anshim Income Participation

Following support for 500 households in Phase 1, Phase 2 to continue for 2 years

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 9th that following the selection of 500 households with income below 50% of the median income last year to start the first phase pilot project, it will newly recruit 1,100 households to participate in the second phase project this year.

Safe Income is a progressive future welfare system that provides more support to those with lower income, and it is a core project of Mayor Oh Se-hoon's first pledge, the "Four Major Policies for Vulnerable Groups."

Compared to the first phase project, Seoul City will expand the range of eligible households to those with income below 85% of the median income. By expanding the eligibility criteria, households with income exceeding 50% but below 85% of the median income, who have been excluded from welfare benefits so far, will also be embraced as a new welfare beneficiary group. The recruitment scale will also be doubled from the original plan (800→1600 households) to promote the pilot project.

As of the announcement date (the 9th), any household registered as residing in Seoul and meeting both income and property criteria can apply. Eligible households are those with household income below 85% of the median income for their household size and property valued at 326 million KRW or less. However, since the Safe Income pilot project is a policy experiment to study the effects of Safe Income, the final supported households will be randomly selected from the applicants, so not all who meet the income and property criteria will receive support.

Households wishing to participate can apply online through the Seoul Welfare Portal for 17 days from the 25th to February 10th. The online application system will operate from 9 AM to 6 PM from the 25th to February 10th. For the first four days of the recruitment period, applications will be accepted based on odd-even birth year to prevent system overload, and after that, applications can be submitted freely. Access is available during holidays and nighttime, and a dedicated Safe Income consultation call center will operate to assist with application guidance and online submission support.

For households having difficulty with online applications, a separate Safe Income application call center will operate during the last five days of the recruitment period. The call center will be available from February 5th to February 10th, excluding lunchtime, from 9 AM to 6 PM.

The city will select 1,100 supported households through three rounds of random sampling based on statistics, considering household size and head of household age. Participating households will be divided into 12 segments based on household size (1 person/2 persons/3 persons/4 or more) and head of household age (39 or younger/40?64/65 or older). ▲ First, 15,000 households will be randomly sampled ▲ income and property surveys will be conducted on these households to narrow down to 4,000 households ▲ finally, 1,100 supported households will be randomly selected.

The 1,100 households finally selected will receive monthly support for two years equal to half the difference between the 85% median income standard and their household income. For example, a single-person household with zero income will receive half of the income shortfall compared to 85% of the median income (1,766,000 KRW), which is 883,000 KRW per month. The first payment will be made on July 11. However, households cannot receive this support simultaneously with existing cash welfare benefits such as ▲ livelihood and housing benefits ▲ basic pension ▲ Seoul-type basic livelihood security ▲ Seoul-type housing vouchers ▲ youth allowance ▲ youth monthly rent.

Recipients of basic livelihood security will have their previously received cash benefits for livelihood and housing suspended. However, since eligibility is maintained, benefits such as medical aid, education benefits, and electricity bill discounts will continue as before.

Households receiving basic pension, Seoul-type housing vouchers, youth allowance, or youth monthly rent will have those amounts deducted from the Safe Income support amount, and recipients of the Seoul-type basic livelihood security system will have their eligibility suspended.

Meanwhile, through this public recruitment, the city will also select a comparison group of 2,200 households that will not receive Safe Income benefits separately from the supported households. This is to verify the effectiveness of Safe Income, and changes in both supported and comparison households will be investigated and studied in a time-series manner until 2026. Starting with a baseline survey (pre-survey) in March, semi-annual interim surveys, post-project surveys at the end, and follow-up surveys one year after completion will be conducted to deeply analyze how Safe Income has affected individuals' quality of life in seven key areas including work, employment, and household management.

Kim Sang-han, Director of Seoul Welfare Policy Office, said, "Due to changes in job structures from the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the COVID-19 pandemic, the gap between rich and poor is deepening and the blind spots are widening. Without new welfare solutions, the future of South Korea will inevitably be bleak," adding, "We hope citizens will take an interest and actively participate in Seoul City's challenge for a hopeful future where no one is left behind."

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