Gender-Responsive Budget and Fund Operation Plan
Projects 302→282...6.6%↓
Excluding 10 Trillion 'Jeonse Rental Loan Project'
The gender-responsive budgeting for gender equality next year is set to decrease by 27% compared to this year. This is the result of strengthening appropriateness evaluations, such as terminating target projects or excluding them from the gender-responsive budget list in line with the government's fiscal austerity policy. However, some express concerns that in certain ministries where the budget has been reduced, awareness of gender sensitivity during policy implementation may decline, potentially undermining the original purpose of promoting gender equality.
According to the '2024 Gender-Responsive Budget Proposal and Fund Operation Plan' submitted by the government to the National Assembly on the 7th, the total gender-responsive budget (including funds) for next year is 24.1966 trillion won, a 27.1% decrease from this year's 33.1818 trillion won. The number of central government agencies implementing gender-responsive projects increased by 2 from 38 this year to 40 next year, while the number of projects decreased by 20 (-6.6%) from 302 to 282.
Gender-responsive budgeting refers to the allocation of funds during the budgeting and execution process that considers the effects on men and women separately, ensuring that benefits are distributed equally without gender discrimination. The National Finance Act and the National Accounting Act specify related provisions to guarantee that women and men receive equal benefits from the budget. Examples include budgets for promoting women's economic activities and childcare support in the labor environment sector, as well as policies to prevent violence against women.
The main ministries with reduced gender-responsive budgets next year total 19, accounting for 47.5%. Notable examples include the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Employment and Labor, as well as the Ministry of Personnel Management, Defense Acquisition Program Administration, and the National Police Agency. In particular, the Korea Communications Commission, which allocated 1.496 billion won for gender-responsive budgeting this year, has either completely cut or transferred the entire amount for next year.
The ministry with the largest apparent budget reduction is the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which decreased from 10.375 trillion won this year to 462 billion won next year. This largely relates to the Ministry's 'Jeonse Rental Loan Project' budget. The National Assembly Budget Office pointed out that the necessity of this project is not high when considering gender equality elements, resulting in its exclusion from the gender-responsive budget list starting next year. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the related budget for Jeonse rental (loan) and multi-family purchase rental (loan) next year is 10.73 trillion won, a 3.4% increase compared to this year. However, some express concerns that excluding the multi-family purchase rental project from the gender-responsive budget list may reduce related benefits for women, who constitute a high proportion of vulnerable residents in rental housing.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor also shows a notable budget decrease. Although the percentage decrease in gender-responsive budgeting (-6.5%) is relatively low, the reduction amounts to 422.5 billion won. The number of target projects decreased the most, from 44 this year to 35 next year. This is largely due to the Youth Tomorrow Savings Deduction budget, allocated as a 'Gender Equality Promotion Priority Project,' shrinking from 429.6 billion won this year to 149 billion won next year, a 65.3% reduction. Major gender-responsive budgets such as job creation projects (-49.0%) and regionally tailored industrial job support (-31.4%) were also significantly cut.
The Ministry of Education's gender-responsive budget also decreased from 218.7 billion won this year to 68.5 billion won next year, a 68.6% reduction. Specifically, the budget for the Happy Dormitory Support Project (Private School Promotion Fund) decreased from 70.733 billion won this year to 28.623 billion won next year (-59.5%), and the budget for eradicating sexual crimes and creating safe environments on campuses also dropped from 491 million won to 245 million won (-50%) during the same period. The Happy Dormitory Support Project has allocated budgets based on the male-to-female dormitory admission ratio since 2012 to improve poor living conditions for university students, but the budget was reduced as the number of beneficiaries decreased from 2.06 million in 2021 to 1.91 million this year.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism was allocated 304.034 billion won, down 35.9% or 170.7 billion won. The budget for revitalizing cultural and arts education shrank by 40.4 billion won (-33.5%) to 80.3 billion won, and the budget for operating the Korean Film Academy and training field personnel also decreased by 7.16 billion won (-27.4%). According to the Korean Film Industry Survey, the total number of film industry workers decreased from 32,570 in 2021 to an estimated 13,240 this year due to the impact of COVID-19, which is the cause of the reduced project targets. On the other hand, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (174 billion won, 13.7%) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (178.5 billion won, 40.9%) saw significant increases in related budgets.
The government emphasized that this year's gender-responsive budget formulation focused on reducing unnecessary budgets by mixing priorities between direct and indirect projects within key projects. A government official stated, "Although some projects moved in next year's budget due to changes in the Basic Plan for Gender Equality, excluding the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's related budget, the scale is similar to this year," adding, "We are continuously improving by evaluating the appropriateness of projects from a gender-responsive perspective together with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and excluding inappropriate parts."
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