Vulnerable individuals’ self-sufficiency falls despite gov’t programs

This image is for illustrative purposes only. (Ulju County)

South Korea is seeing a growing trend where individuals don’t feel the need to do hard or long hours of labor, according to experts. The tendency is also seen among welfare recipients.

“There are many smart farm self-sufficiency projects in rural areas but young people don’t like farm work, saying it’s too hard,” said a representative from a social welfare organization. “They are only interested in how to succeed as YouTubers.”

Experts noted that this kind of “gap in expectations” is one of the reasons for the low success rate of self-sufficiency programs.

Among recipients of basic living allowances aged 18 to under 65, about 80,000 individuals are assessed as being capable of working and are eligible for self-sufficiency programs or national employment support systems.

The aging of participants within the self-sufficiency programs has also put them at a disadvantage in the job market.

The percentage of participants aged 60 or over rose from 25.8 percent in 2018 to 27.9 percent in 2021.

The issue is that the government’s budget for self-sufficiency programs has been steadily increasing.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the budget for these programs grew from 693.6 billion won ($503.12 million) in 2023 to 749.9 billion won in 2024 and 820.6 billion won this year.

Despite an increase of around 8 percent from 2023 to 2024, the success rate of self-sufficiency programs has declined, raising concerns about the effectiveness of the policy.

Experts argue that participants in self-sufficiency programs should be broadly divided into two groups and provided with clearly differentiated policy services.

“The support system needs to be reorganized to match the characteristics of the participants,” said Baek Hak-yeong, a professor of social welfare at Kangwon National University. “Fundamentally, we need to consider whether vulnerable individuals can realistically achieve self-sufficiency through employment or entrepreneurship, or whether an alternative support system is necessary.”

“At present, those with high work capacity and those with low work capacity are placed in the same project groups and attempt to start businesses together, but these groups should be separated,” said Jeong Hae-sik, president of the Korea Development Institute for Self-Sufficiency and Welfare (KDISSW).