Uiryeong-gun, Dense Community-Based Welfare Ranks 'No.1 in Gyeongnam'

Positive Reviews for Welfare Services Including Elderly Hairdressing Fee Support

O Tae-wan, the governor of Uiryeong-gun, Gyeongnam, is visiting local elders to offer comfort and encouragement. [Image source=Uiryeong-gun Office]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Wook] The 'local social welfare service satisfaction' in Uiryeong-gun, Gyeongnam Province, was found to be the highest in the province.

Uiryeong-gun announced on the 27th that it ranked first in the satisfaction survey of six welfare sectors in the '2022 Gyeongsangnam-do Social Survey' released by Gyeongsangnam-do.

The Gyeongnam social survey comprehensively assesses the consciousness and quality of life of residents aged 15 and over in 15,000 households annually within the province. The results derived from the social survey are used as basic data for formulating various policies such as regional development and welfare measures.

This year, from May 20 to June 10, a total of 25,011 residents were surveyed on 60 items across six sectors: health, family/household, society, safety, and environment.

According to the social survey analysis results, Uiryeong-gun ranked first in most welfare sectors in the local social welfare service satisfaction survey. Satisfaction was highest in the province in six welfare sectors: child and youth welfare (51.3%), pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare welfare (52.3%), welfare for the disabled (58.0%), welfare for vulnerable groups such as low-income families (59.5%), support for foreigners and multicultural families (65.9%), and youth policy (40.0%).

Uiryeong-gun is encouraged by the fact that the welfare satisfaction of its residents was the highest in the province in this survey.

Uiryeong-gun analyzed that the achievement resulted from practicing 'visiting welfare' beyond the limitations of residence-based, application-centered welfare principles and discovering and supporting 'customized' crisis households through specialized projects in each eup and myeon.

Representative 'Uiryeong-type' welfare services benefiting local residents include the 'Sharing Laundry Room,' which collects laundry directly from residents with mobility difficulties, washes and dries it, and delivers it back, and the 'Senior Hairdressing and Bathing Fee Support,' which provides hairdressing and bathing fee benefits to all seniors aged 70 and over.

County Governor Oh Tae-wan said, "It seems that providing customized welfare policies that understand the needs of local residents has been well received," and added, "We will discover and provide more practical, tightly-knit 'community-based' welfare services that residents can truly feel and that leave no neighbors marginalized."