410,000 "Resting" Youth Guided to Job Market... 2 Million Won Self-Care Fund per Person Established

To promote the labor market entry of young people who are not preparing for employment or seeking jobs, referred to as '쉬었음' youth, the government will strengthen support at each stage from enrollment to employment and job seeking. The government will support workplace adaptation programs to help young people who have successfully found jobs to smoothly transition into the labor market, and will also enhance training cost support for youth who have given up on job seeking.

On the morning of the 15th, the government unveiled the 'Measures to Promote Labor Market Entry of Youth' at the Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting held at the Seoul Government Complex. Despite favorable indicators such as the youth employment rate (46.5%) and unemployment rate (5.2%) as of September ranking second highest and lowest ever respectively, the number of '쉬었음' youth has turned to an increasing trend this year, prompting the need for countermeasures. Statistically, '쉬었음' refers to those classified as economically inactive without serious illness or disability but who are resting.

According to Statistics Korea, as of the cumulative period from January to October, the number of '쉬었음' youth (aged 15-29) classified as economically inactive was 410,000, accounting for 4.9% of the total youth population. The proportion of '쉬었음' youth relative to the population peaked at 5.0% in 2020, up from 2.9% in 2016, then slightly decreased to 4.8% in 2021 and 4.6% last year, but has been rising again this year. The government cited the dual structure of the labor market and the expansion of on-demand and career-based hiring, which have reduced opportunities for quality jobs, as recent reasons for the increase in '쉬었음' youth. When failing to secure a desired job, youth tend to either extend their job search or choose to be '쉬었음'.

On the 18th, job seekers participating in the '2023 Tourism Industry Job Fair' held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, are looking at the recruitment board. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Support by Enrollment, Employment, and Job-Seeking Stages... Preventing Labor Market Exit

The Ministry of Economy and Finance conducted an in-depth survey over four months from July to last month to systematize the characteristics of '쉬었음' youth by type, categorizing them into △Active Job Preparation △Passive Job Preparation △Active Job Change △Passive Job Change △Vulnerable types. The largest proportion was Active Job Change at 57%, followed by Passive Job Change (21%), Passive Job Preparation (14%), and Active Job Preparation (8%).

Based on the survey of '쉬었음' youth types, the government has prepared support measures for each stage of enrollment, employment, and job seeking. First, the government plans to strengthen early intervention from the enrollment stage to prevent youth who graduate from school from transitioning into '쉬었음'. The customized employment service for enrolled students, piloted this year targeting university students, will be expanded from 12 universities to 50 universities, and a customized employment service for youth who do not attend vocational or general high schools will be newly established next year. The government will expand preferred work experience opportunities to 74,000 people and plans to operate an integrated work experience platform starting next year. Considering the burden of job preparation on youth, a 50% discount on national technical qualification exam fees will be supported from next year.

At the employment stage, a 4.4 billion KRW onboarding program will be introduced to prevent young people who have succeeded in finding jobs from exiting the labor market. The onboarding program will help workplace adaptation and promote a work-life balance culture preferred by youth. Additionally, the flexible work infrastructure will be expanded from 50 locations to 850 locations, and from next year, support for reducing actual working hours (300,000 KRW per person) will be newly introduced.

To prevent '쉬었음' youth from giving up job seeking and to help them find jobs suited to their aptitudes, a 'Youth Growth Project' (tentative name) will be established. The Youth Growth Project will be implemented from next year through 10 local governments to prevent job-seeking abandonment among resting youth through psychological counseling and other means. The Youth Challenge Support Project will expand the number of supported participants to 9,000, introduce a mid-term program, provide training cost support to participants, and reorganize incentive payment plans linked to employment after completion.

Vulnerable Youth Self-Reliance Allowance Increased by 100,000 KRW

Support for vulnerable youth who find it difficult to participate in the labor market will also be strengthened. The government plans to support mental recovery and social relationship formation for isolated and withdrawn youth and establish a new family care youth self-care fund worth 2 million KRW annually. The self-reliance allowance for youth preparing for independence will be increased from the current 400,000 KRW to 500,000 KRW per month. The number of dedicated support personnel will also be expanded from 180 to 230, and support for youth who have left child welfare facilities or foster families after turning 18 and are starting to live independently will be strengthened. The expansion of self-support work for youth with disabilities or illnesses and support for establishing standard workplaces will increase from 147 to 172 locations.

Infrastructure development will also be enhanced. A regular central-level consultative body will be newly established next month to share the pool of vulnerable youth among related agencies and discuss ways to link support projects. To resolve the fundamental cause of youth '쉬었음', which is labor market mismatch, efforts will begin to improve working conditions and perceptions in small and medium-sized enterprises. To transform factory-centered industrial complexes into youth-friendly spaces, 187 billion KRW in funding will be invested next year. A new youth employment support fund for vacant jobs will be established, providing a total of 48.3 billion KRW to 24,000 people next year. The government stated, "Based on the recommendation on the win-win wage plan, we plan to prepare measures to improve the dual structure by eliminating wage and working condition gaps and creating a labor ecosystem of coexistence and solidarity by the first half of next year."

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