Ministry of Employment's Budget for Next Year 35 Trillion Won... 4.9% Increase Compared to This Year

Reduced by 20.9 billion KRW Compared to Previous Government Budget Plan
Increased Maternity Protection and Childcare Support to 4.0225 Trillion KRW
Youth Job Experience Support Reduced by 4.7 Billion KRW

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 10th that the total expenditure budget under its jurisdiction was finalized at 35.3452 trillion won following the passage of next year's budget bill at the National Assembly plenary session. This represents a 4.9% (1.6627 trillion won) increase compared to this year's main budget. However, it is 20.9 billion won less than the government’s initially proposed budget for next year.

Looking at the finalized budget for the Ministry of Employment and Labor next year, budget expenditures amount to 5.7549 trillion won, a 1.0% (60.2 billion won) decrease compared to this year. Fund expenditures total 29.5903 trillion won, a 6.2% (1.7229 trillion won) increase. Among fund expenditures, employment insurance is 17.8066 trillion won, up 8.5% (1.4007 trillion won), and industrial accident insurance is 10.0176 trillion won, up 2.0% (195.3 billion won). Wage claims surged by 15.7% (85.4 billion won) to 628.5 billion won.

Specifically, next year’s budget increased in areas such as ▲expanding work-family balance ▲strengthening protection for vulnerable workers ▲tailored support for youth throughout their lifecycle ▲protection of workers’ life and safety ▲and reinforcing proactive labor market policies. The maternal protection and childcare support project, which includes parental leave benefits, spouse childbirth leave benefits, and infertility treatment leave benefits, will see a budget increase of 1.5256 trillion won compared to this year, totaling 4.0225 trillion won.

Additionally, 16 billion won will be newly allocated for labor vulnerable support policies, which include various support measures such as participation and communication activation and workplace improvement. Advance payments and support loans for arrears clearance will also see increased budgets of 529.3 billion won and 70.4 billion won respectively compared to this year. Budgets for youth employment support infrastructure (109.7 billion won) and job creation support projects (777.2 billion won) have also increased compared to this year.

The safety and health management system consulting project, designed to enhance safety management capabilities for small and medium-sized workplaces with fewer than 50 employees, was reduced by 6.9 billion won during the National Assembly review process, resulting in a budget of 63.7 billion won for next year. The flexible operation system, newly introduced next year to establish customized specialized training courses for SME workers, was cut by 2 billion won during the National Assembly review, finalizing the budget at 18.3 billion won.

Furthermore, the graduate specialized program was reduced by 2.5 billion won to 17.5 billion won, youth job experience support was cut by 4.6 billion won to 214.1 billion won, and the youth job small and strong company selection and nurturing package was decreased by 1.5 billion won to 800 million won. The vacant job youth technical training project was reduced by 3 billion won, with a budget of 4.2 billion won allocated.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor stated, "Next year’s budget will focus investments on work-family balance, protection of vulnerable workers, and strengthening job support for target groups such as youth and persons with disabilities." It added, "We plan to make every effort to promptly execute the budget approved by the National Assembly so that it can be effectively used for citizens facing difficulties, including vulnerable workers."

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