Seoul Jung-gu Establishes '1-Person Household Support Team' to Launch Customized Support for Single-Person Households

Seoul's First 'Single-Person Household Support Team' Established to Proactively Address Growing Single-Person Households...Development of Customized Support Policies Reflecting Diverse Characteristics Across Life Cycles

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Jung-gu, Seoul (Mayor Seoyangho) established the city's first-ever 'One-Person Household Support Team' in July to respond to the increasing welfare demands of one-person households and has begun full-scale support for them.

The district has designated support for one-person households as a key priority and plans to have the One-Person Household Support Team manage in an integrated manner the five areas of ▲housing stability ▲illness ▲loneliness ▲life safety ▲economic vitality, which had previously been dispersed across different departments.

The number of one-person households in Jung-gu is 22,818 households (as of 2020), accounting for 41.4% of all households. This is higher than the Seoul city average of 33.4%.

The One-Person Household Support Team will act as the control tower for policies related to one-person households in the region, establishing and implementing customized support plans according to life cycles.

In particular, reflecting the district’s characteristic where about 40% of one-person households are young adults, policies focused on young one-person households will be intensively developed and implemented.

As a starting point, the district plans to create a 'Young One-Person Household Community Support Space' in Hwanghak-dong, where the largest number of young one-person households reside, in the second half of this year. This space will provide community cafes, shared kitchens, movie screening areas, and operate social dining and DIY programs.

Additionally, from October, the district will establish a 'One-Person Household Support' category on the Jung-gu Office website and open a KakaoTalk channel to build a 'One-Person Household One-Stop Online Platform' that provides customized information. It will also link with the Jung-gu Mental Health Welfare Center to support online mental counseling services for one-person households.

The district also announced plans to form a 'One-Person Household Policy Support Group,' a public-private consultative system, to discuss support plans and major policies for one-person households, review results after project implementation, and prepare improvement directions and supplementary tasks to promptly respond to changing welfare demands.

Currently, the district is actively implementing projects for one-person households such as ▲Neighbor Caregivers ▲Our Neighborhood Care Group ▲Safe Home Set ▲Safe Return Scouts ▲installation of the Seoul Salpimi App, and is expediting the enactment of the 'Jung-gu One-Person Household Support Ordinance (draft)' currently submitted to the district council.

Mayor Seoyangho stated, "With the rapid increase of one-person households, we will prepare various proactive measures to ensure they are not excluded from welfare services," adding, "Through practical support that residents can directly feel, we will make Jung-gu a better place to live together, including for one-person households."