[2024 Budget] Unemployment Benefits Budget Cut by 270 Billion Won… Ministry of Employment Says "Not an Artificial Adjustment"

Ministry of Employment Allocates Total of 33.6039 Trillion Won... Reduced for 2 Consecutive Years
Employment Insurance Expenditure Decreases by 514 Billion Won

The government will reduce the unemployment benefits budget by about 270 billion KRW next year. The Ministry of Employment and Labor explained that this is due to a natural decrease considering next year's economic situation and recovery from COVID-19.

On the 29th, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced the '2024 Budget Proposal' containing these details. According to this, next year's budget proposal is 33.6039 trillion KRW, a 3.9% decrease compared to the previous year. This marks the second consecutive year of budget reduction following 2022.

Choi Hyun-seok, Director of Planning and Coordination at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, said, "When preparing next year's budget, we focused on thoroughly reviewing all projects from scratch to block financial waste. In particular, budgets that were habitually supported without sufficient verification of necessity and validity, projects with excessive unused funds, or those with minimal effects were made more efficient in spending. The saved resources were intensively invested to support labor reform, youth investment, and the cultivation of core personnel, focusing on future growth and sustainable job creation."

First, employment insurance fund expenditures will decrease by 514 billion KRW (3.0%) from 16.9107 trillion KRW this year to 16.3967 trillion KRW next year. In particular, unemployment (job-seeking) benefit expenditures will decrease by 269.5 billion KRW (2.4%) from 11.839 trillion KRW to 10.9144 trillion KRW.

On the 3rd, as the employment shock due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic intensifies, a citizen visiting the Nambu Employment Center in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, is moving to the unemployment benefits application consultation desk. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Kim Seong-ho, Director of Employment Policy at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, explained, "This reflects considerations of future economic trends, COVID-19 recovery status, and execution trends. The unemployment benefits system reform is a legal amendment, so the budget was not prepared based on that premise."

The Ministry of Employment and Labor will promote ▲wage system reform ▲welfare expansion ▲protection of vulnerable workers to reduce unfair disparities. For wage system reform, new budgets were allocated for the Integrated Wage Information System (2.8 billion KRW), new industry-specific wage system consulting (6 billion KRW), and the establishment of wage system reform consulting within the new NCS corporate utilization consulting (150 cases). Additionally, support for small and medium-sized enterprises' retirement fund contributions and joint labor welfare funds will be expanded, and a new project to protect the rights and interests of unorganized vulnerable workers, such as non-regular workers, who require substantial protection, will be launched.

They plan to expand infrastructure such as health centers and build an integrated portal to improve workers' safety and health infrastructure, and expand industrial accident insurance coverage to special-type workers and after-school instructors.

The Ministry will increase the budget for supporting flexible work by 1 billion KRW for the staggered commuting system during childcare for workplaces with 30 or fewer employees, and will also promote the expansion of support funds for reduced working hours and the integration and advancement of consulting.

The childcare leave benefit budget will increase from 1.6964 trillion KRW this year to 1.9869 trillion KRW next year, allowing parents who both take more than three months of childcare leave to receive an additional six months (from 1 year to 1 year and 6 months). The eligible child age will be extended from 'within 12 months after birth' to 'within 18 months after birth,' and the special application period will be expanded from the first 3 months to the first 6 months. The maximum monthly amount will be raised from 2 to 3 million KRW to 2 to 4.5 million KRW.

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