Care and Employment Support Funds May Be Paid Just Before Chuseok

On June 22, citizens visiting the Seoul Employment Welfare Plus Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, were waiting to apply in person for the COVID-19 Emergency Employment Stability Support Fund. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] Care support funds for households with preschool children (infants and toddlers) and elementary school students, as well as emergency employment stabilization funds for special-type workers (special employment types) and freelancers, will be disbursed as early as late next week.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Employment and Labor, Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and Ministry of Health and Welfare on the 20th, the government has tentatively decided on the payment schedule for these support funds, assuming that the 4th supplementary budget bill will pass the National Assembly on the 22nd.

An official from the Ministry of Economy and Finance said, "We are preparing the support system and selecting recipients in advance to distribute as many support funds as possible before Chuseok," adding, "Those whose eligibility can be quickly confirmed through administrative information will be the recipients before Chuseok."

The government plans to send notification messages to various support fund recipients around the time the 4th supplementary budget passes the National Assembly.

It is highly likely that online applicants will be collected around this weekend and the first payment will be made to them. In other words, applicants must submit their applications within the deadline specified in the notification message to receive the support funds before Chuseok.

For support funds with clear recipients and payment methods, disbursement may begin as early as late this week. However, since many cases require application, collection, and verification procedures, most funds are realistically expected to be disbursed just before Chuseok on the 28th or 29th.

In the case of special care support funds, the recipients are clearly defined and the payment methods are already in place, so the payment timing may be relatively early. Payments will be made as early as the 25th and no later than the 29th. The recipients include approximately 2.52 million preschool children (born between January 2014 and this month) and 2.8 million elementary school students. Preschool children will receive the funds through their child allowance accounts, while elementary school students will receive them through school banking accounts used for meal fees and field trip expenses.

For vulnerable employment groups such as freelancers, 500,000 people who received the first emergency employment stabilization fund are eligible for payment before Chuseok. They will receive 500,000 KRW each. The government plans to select one day between the 24th and 29th to make a bulk deposit to applicants.

The youth special job-seeking support fund, which provides 500,000 KRW to young people who tried but failed to find employment, is scheduled to be deposited on the 29th.

Previously, young people from low-income vulnerable groups who did not receive job-seeking promotion allowances and those who participated in the employment success package program last year but have not yet found employment are eligible for payment before Chuseok.

Those whose job support programs ended this year or are still ongoing will receive payments after Chuseok.

For small business owners affected by the resurgence of COVID-19, the New Hope Fund, which provides 1 million to 2 million KRW, will be disbursed to most recipients on the 28th.

Recipients before Chuseok include business owners whose sales decline can be confirmed through government administrative information and small business owners identified as belonging to specially affected industries.

For general taxpayers, the government can pre-select those with sales declines through administrative information, and for simplified taxpayers, support will be provided first and recovered later if proof is not submitted, so the payment date is unified on the 28th.

The government expects that small business owners in industries subject to gathering bans or restrictions will also be mostly paid before Chuseok, as selection can be made once confirmed by local governments.

The government plans to provide 1 million KRW to small business owners with annual sales of 400 million KRW or less who experienced sales declines after the COVID-19 resurgence, and 1.5 million to 2 million KRW to businesses in gathering-restricted or banned industries regardless of sales size or decline.

The total number of eligible small business owners reaches 2.91 million.

A government official said, "Since the method is to send notification messages, collect online applications for a certain period after seeing the messages, and then make payments, applicants must apply by this weekend at the latest to receive the funds before Chuseok."