Gyeonggi Province is set to have the first maturity recipient of the ‘Self-Reliance Double Savings Account’ project, the only program nationwide aimed at out-of-home youth preparing for independent living.
According to Gyeonggi Province on the 11th, among the 51 out-of-home youth who started saving in March 2022, four have requested to receive their savings upon maturity, making the first recipients by the end of this month. The remaining 47 have expressed their intention to continue saving.
The Self-Reliance Double Savings Account is an asset-building support program for out-of-home youth using youth shelters and self-reliance support centers. Youth can freely save between 10,000 KRW and 100,000 KRW monthly, and Gyeonggi Province adds twice the saved amount (up to 200,000 KRW) as additional savings.
For example, if a youth saves 10,000 KRW, Gyeonggi Province adds 20,000 KRW; if they save 100,000 KRW, 200,000 KRW is added. The savings period is initially two years and can be extended up to six years. If saving 100,000 KRW monthly for six years, the total personal savings of 7.2 million KRW combined with 14.4 million KRW from Gyeonggi Province amounts to 21.6 million KRW plus interest.
Among the first four recipients, two will receive a total of 6.6 million KRW, combining their personal savings of 2.2 million KRW and Gyeonggi Province’s contribution of 4.4 million KRW. The other two will receive 5.64 million KRW and 4.5 million KRW respectively. The main uses are known to be rental housing deposits and living expenses.
One of the first recipients, youth A, said, "Participating in the Gyeonggi Province Youth Self-Reliance Double Savings Account project, I feel proud to have saved a modest lump sum through my own efforts," adding, "I am grateful to those around me who encouraged me whenever I was tired and struggling. I want to use the saved amount as a deposit for applying for LH public rental housing."
Excluding these four, there are currently 123 out-of-home youth continuing to save through the Self-Reliance Double Savings Account since 2022.
Gyeonggi Province will relax the eligibility criteria for the ‘Self-Reliance Double Savings Account’ from the second half of the year to recruit more participants and support the foundation for independence of out-of-home youth.
Park Geun-gyun, Director of Lifelong Education at Gyeonggi Province, emphasized, "Out-of-home youth receive far less support compared to ‘self-reliance preparation youth’ who have left child welfare facilities. Gyeonggi Province will carefully watch over out-of-home youth with the heart of a parent."
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