[Interview] Jung Won-oh, Seongdong District Mayor: "Creating Support Policies That Resonate with MZ Generation Single-Person Households"

Launch of the 'Single-Person Household Support Policy Task Force'... Focus on MZ Generation Young Single-Person Households, About Half of All... 42.4% of All Households Are Single-Person (57,000 Households), Among Them 42.6% (24,000 Households) Are Young Single-Person Households... Seongdong-gu's 'Single-Person Household Support Task Force' Composed of 15 Teams from 11 Departments Discusses Single-Person Household Status and Policy Directions on Five Major Issues: Safety, Health, Economy, Culture & Leisure, Housing, and New Project Development

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] “We will create support policies that resonate with the skin of single-person households in the MZ generation.”

Jung Won-oh, mayor of Seongdong-gu, said in an interview with this paper, “We have formed the ‘Single-Person Household Support Policy Promotion Team’ to support single-person households, which account for about 42.4% of the total population of Seongdong-gu.”

The number of single-person households in Seongdong-gu increased from 46,000 households as of January 2000 to 57,000 households as of this May, an increase of about 12,000 households over the past 11 years.

Mayor Jung said, “We began to consider the role of local governments, which are closest to the field of life, in keeping pace with social changes according to the diversifying household types, and especially to reflect on whether policies suitable for the rapidly increasing single-person households are being realized.” He added, “For several years, the economic sector has popularized marketing strategies targeting single-person households under names like ‘1conomy,’ but the reality is that existing policies are still designed based on four-person households. We decided to completely restructure existing family policies and create a control tower to develop effective single-person household policies by linking functions dispersed across individual departments.”

The Seongdong-gu ‘Single-Person Household Support Promotion Team,’ composed of 15 teams from 11 departments, held its first meeting on the 14th of last month to discuss the status of single-person households, five major issues including safety, health, economy, culture and leisure, housing, and the direction for discovering new projects.

In particular, the focus was on support measures that would provide practical help to the MZ generation (those born from the 1980s to the early 2000s) young single-person households, which make up the largest share at 42.5% (24,000 households) of all single-person households. Seongdong-gu’s single-person households consist of 42.5% young people aged 20-39, 28.6% middle-aged people aged 40 and above, and 28% elderly people aged 60 and above.

Seongdong-gu has long had a university district centered around Hanyang University and is a transportation hub favored by young office workers. In recent years, the Seongsu-dong area has rapidly risen, attracting IT and startup companies and gaining attention as a cultural and artistic center, leading to a significant influx of young single-person households.

Mayor Jung said, “Until now, support policies have focused only on expanding social exchanges, but we plan to establish and implement practical support measures that meet the expectations of young people.”

Accordingly, Seongdong-gu recently allocated an additional budget of 55 million won to prepare housing safety measures targeting single-person household women. Since violent crimes against women have not been eradicated, this is a support measure reflecting the safety needs of women in their 20s and 30s called the ‘Safe Home 4-piece Kit.’ The Safe Home 4-piece Kit consists of a door mirror sheet, door lock film, personal information leakage prevention stamp, and a mini fire extinguisher. The supplementary budget was approved by the district council on the 21st, and after a meeting at the end of May, specific support plans will be prepared and implemented.

Mayor Jung Won-oh emphasized, “We want to let people know that the local government is striving to be a support for young single-person households and develop support policies that meet the expectations of young people so that they can live safely and happily even alone.”