Gwangju City Expands Implementation of the 'Gwangju-type Basic Livelihood Security System'

Focused Implementation of 10 Major Policies for Low-Income Groups, Disabled, Elderly, and Homeless

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City has decided to expand the Gwangju-type Basic Livelihood Security System in response to the increase in vulnerable households caused by the rapid income decline and care gaps due to the spread and prolongation of COVID-19.

According to Gwangju City on the 24th, the city will first gradually abolish the support obligation criteria for livelihood benefits.

From this month, the support obligation criteria for livelihood benefits under the Basic Livelihood Security System for elderly and single-parent beneficiary households will be abolished, allowing them to receive livelihood benefits if their own income and assets meet the criteria.

Emergency welfare support standards will be temporarily relaxed until March for low-income households struggling due to business closures or suspensions caused by COVID-19.

The asset standard will be raised from the existing 188 million KRW to 350 million KRW, and the deduction rate for living preparation funds will be expanded (from 65% to 150% of the median income standard), so financial assets such as deposits will meet the financial asset criteria if they are 7.74 million KRW for a single-person household and 12.31 million KRW for a four-person household.

Furthermore, although re-support was not possible within two years for the same crisis reason, the restriction period has been relaxed so that re-support is possible after three months have passed.

The support criteria for the Gwangju-type Basic Livelihood Security System for low-income households not receiving statutory support such as the National Basic Livelihood Security will also be expanded.

The financial asset standard will be expanded from 20 million KRW or less to 25 million KRW or less, and the support obligation income criteria will be changed from 140-160% of the median income to 150-170%, strengthening the guarantee.

The ‘Yellow Whistle’ project, a Gwangju-type emergency welfare system for vulnerable households in welfare blind spots, will also be expanded.

Emergency case support funds such as urgent medical support will be increased from 1 million KRW to 2 million KRW, and until the end of March, the relaxed asset and financial asset standards will be applied in line with the government's temporary emergency welfare standards.

A 24/7 one-on-one care support system will be established for people with the most severe developmental disabilities.

Starting in March, the city will install the nation’s first ‘Severe Developmental Disabilities Integrated Care Support Center’ to care for people with severe developmental disabilities in the public sector.

This center will provide activity support and behavior modification services during the day, and from the afternoon until the next morning, it will introduce a residential model where individuals can stay with dedicated staff, establishing a system that combines 24-hour one-on-one care.

Additionally, a 365-day emergency care service will be provided so that parents of children with developmental disabilities can safely entrust their children when urgent situations such as hospitalizations or family events occur, or when weekend and holiday care support is needed.

Disability activity support services will be provided even after the age of 65.

Previously, when disability activity support recipients turned 65 and switched to long-term care recipients, there was a problem of a significant reduction in benefits for those with severe disabilities.

Accordingly, with the revision of the ‘Act on Support for Disabled Persons’ Activities,’ those who were disability activity support recipients but could not receive long-term care benefits after turning 65 (non-graded) can continue to receive the activity support benefits they previously received starting this month.

Even those who have received long-term care grades (1-5) can receive activity support benefits if their benefit amount has decreased by more than the minimum activity support level (60 hours).

Basic pensions and disability pensions will be increased to a maximum of 300,000 KRW per month.

The maximum monthly basic pension payment of 300,000 KRW, which was applied to the bottom 40% income group in 2020, will be expanded to all basic pension recipients (bottom 70% income group) starting this month.

The income and asset selection criteria have also been significantly raised from 1.48 million KRW to 1.69 million KRW for single-person households and from 23.68 million KRW to 27.04 million KRW for couple households compared to last year.

The basic benefit amount for disability pensions paid to low-income people with severe disabilities has also been increased from 250,000 KRW to 300,000 KRW.

The disability pension increased the basic benefit amount to 300,000 KRW in 2019 for livelihood and medical benefit recipients, in 2020 for housing, education benefit recipients, and near-poverty groups, and this time it has been expanded to all recipients.

The ‘Gwangju Senior Citizens’ Hall’ has completed construction with one basement floor and four above-ground floors in Chipeong-dong, Seo-gu, and will open next month.

Also, to support seniors’ access to information and leisure activities, the city will install public Wi-Fi in 1,335 senior centers and support 50% of the usage fees for three years.

The Bittgoeul 50+ Center will open and the life redesign support project for middle-aged people will be fully implemented.

The Bittgoeul 50+ Center will serve as a control tower for support policies for middle-aged people, including work, learning, leisure, welfare, and information provision.

This year, the city will invest 2.88 billion KRW in 14 life redesign support projects for middle-aged people in three areas: ▲ job creation and social participation activation ▲ demand-tailored education and training environment creation ▲ related infrastructure establishment, supporting about 500 social contribution-type jobs.

The Gwangju Restart Comprehensive Support Center will open, and a comprehensive support plan for homeless people will be established.

To provide systematic support for homeless people, the ‘Gwangju Restart Comprehensive Support Center’ will open at the end of next month. After the center opens, a full survey of homeless people on the streets and in facilities will be conducted in the first half of this year, and based on individual characteristics and wishes, if necessary, they will be transferred to facilities for the disabled or nursing care. The city plans to prepare and actively implement a comprehensive support plan including role adjustment among facilities and operation of substantial self-support and treatment programs.

The Gwangju Welfare Research Institute will be established to strengthen policy research functions.

The Gwangju Welfare Foundation will be renamed the Gwangju Welfare Research Institute and will be newly launched as a control tower for regional welfare policy by strengthening policy research functions.

To this end, a policy research office and a research cooperation team will be newly established in the secretariat, research personnel will be increased from three to six, and to focus on community-based policy research supporting the creation of the Gwangju-type welfare model and welfare innovation, the office will be relocated from Bittgoeul Senior Town to the second city hall building in Hwajeong-dong, Seo-gu (former Health and Environment Research Institute).

Park Hyang, Director of the Welfare and Health Bureau of the city, said, “In the COVID-19 situation, it is important to develop field-centered policies to quickly understand changes in Gwangju welfare and implement proactive policies.” He added, “We will strengthen communication with welfare sites and carefully examine difficulties in the field to do our best to realize a Gwangju-type welfare model that provides warm care and good jobs to socially vulnerable people.”