[2025 Budget] Ministry of Employment '35.3661 Trillion Won'... Focus on Low Birthrate, Vulnerable Workers, and Youth

The Ministry of Employment and Labor's budget for next year will increase by 5.0% compared to this year. This is higher than the overall government budget growth rate of 3.2% for next year. The Ministry will reorganize projects in line with a sound fiscal policy and reinvest with a focus on the government's key tasks such as work-family balance (low birthrate), protection of vulnerable workers, and youth future advancement.

[Photo by Ministry of Employment and Labor]

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On the 27th, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced that the budget proposal for next year was approved at the Cabinet meeting held at the Yongsan Presidential Office building.

The total expenditure of the Ministry's budget for next year is 35.3661 trillion KRW, an increase of 5.0% (1.6836 trillion KRW) compared to this year. Although the budget has decreased every year since 2022, it will show a rebound curve next year. Specifically, budget expenditures will decrease by 0.9% to 5.7639 trillion KRW, but fund expenditures will increase by 6.2% to 29.6022 trillion KRW.

The Ministry explained, "In line with a sound fiscal policy, we effectively organized and spent the budget by adjusting similar and overlapping projects and innovating the project operation system to secure investment resources for key tasks." They added, "The saved resources were reinvested with a focus on the government's biggest issues such as work-family balance (low birthrate), protection of vulnerable workers, and youth future advancement."

The Ministry set the budget for the 'Maternity Protection and Childcare Support' project, which includes parental leave benefits, reduced working hours benefits during childcare, spouse childbirth leave benefits, and infertility treatment leave benefits, at 4.0225 trillion KRW for next year. This is an increase of 1.5256 trillion KRW compared to this year.

Next year, parental leave benefits will increase by 1 million KRW from a maximum of 1.5 million KRW to 2.5 million KRW. For parental leave, 2.5 million KRW will be paid for 1 to 3 months, 2 million KRW for 4 to 6 months, and 1.6 million KRW after 7 months. To support this, the Ministry set the parental leave benefits budget for next year at 3.403 trillion KRW, an increase of 1.4161 trillion KRW compared to this year.

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The upper limit for reduced working hours benefits during childcare will increase from 2 million KRW to 2.2 million KRW. The related budget will increase by 84.5 billion KRW to 233.5 billion KRW compared to this year. The spouse childbirth leave benefits period will increase fourfold from 5 days to 20 days, and the related budget for next year (24.2 billion KRW) will also increase by 15.8 billion KRW compared to this year.

A total budget of 390.9 billion KRW will be allocated to the 'Employment Stability Incentive' project next year. This is an increase of 157.1 billion KRW compared to this year. In particular, a new childcare leave work-sharing support fund will be established to provide 200,000 KRW per person to employers who give incentives such as allowances to workers who share duties during on-site parental leave.

The Ministry will also strengthen the full-cycle customized support project to provide youth employment. The budget for this project next year is 112.2 billion KRW, an increase of 29.1 billion KRW compared to this year. Specifically, a specialized program will be newly established for 60,000 unemployed graduates (20 billion KRW), and youth work experience support will be expanded from 48,000 to 58,000 people. The budget for work experience support will increase from 171.8 billion KRW this year to 218.7 billion KRW next year.

To strengthen protection for vulnerable workers, a new support project will be launched with a budget of 16 billion KRW. This project includes specialized programs such as education for labor providers and customized special lectures by industry and region. The budget for the disability employment fund next year is 937.2 billion KRW, an increase of 31.9 billion KRW compared to this year. This is the highest budget ever allocated. The budget for lump-sum payments will also increase to 529.3 billion KRW next year.

The budget for various benefits and allowances to strengthen the employment safety net and protect workers' lives and safety will also increase next year. Industrial accident benefits will increase by 128.2 billion KRW, the Durunuri program by 47.6 billion KRW, and reemployment success allowances by 61.7 billion KRW.

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