Comprehensive Welfare Policies by Life Cycle... Eliminating Welfare Blind Spots
Next Year's National Basic Livelihood Security System and Welfare Blind Spot Identification
Ulsan City will apply the revamped Basic Livelihood Security System starting in 2025 and strengthen economic safety nets and social networks by expanding the appointment of honorary social welfare officers.
To this end, 408.4 billion KRW has been allocated for the 2025 Basic Livelihood Security, focusing on resolving welfare blind spots through ▲ Basic Livelihood Security and self-support support ▲ Strengthening customized medical services ▲ Expanding human safety nets.
▲ Strengthening Basic Livelihood Security and Self-Support
The 2025 median income standard for the National Basic Livelihood Security (based on a four-person household) has been set at 6,097,773 KRW, a 6.42% increase from the previous year.
Accordingly, the livelihood benefit will increase to 1,951,287 KRW, which is 32% of the median income, and the medical benefit will increase to 2,439,109 KRW, which is 40%. The monthly livelihood benefit for a four-person household will increase by 117,710 KRW, and the number of recipients of livelihood and medical benefits in the region is expected to increase by about 1,000, reaching approximately 26,000 people.
Efforts will also focus on promoting self-support by providing work opportunities. The number of participants in self-support projects will be expanded (from 800 to 850), and the self-support work unit price will be increased by 3.7%. For market-entry type work, if working 8 hours a day, the daily wage will be 64,220 KRW.
Additionally, a self-support success support fund system will be introduced in the second half of 2025 to provide up to 1.5 million KRW per person to conditional recipients who exit the benefit system through private employment or entrepreneurship, with about 130 people expected to benefit.
Furthermore, a self-support case manager who provides self-reliance support services to participants in self-support projects will be assigned one per district and county to more smoothly connect customized services necessary for independence.
▲ Customized Medical Service Support Aligned with the Medical Benefit System Reform
The medical benefit system applied from 2025 aims to reduce unnecessary medical expenses while increasing support for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The fixed-rate personal burden system, maintained for 17 years, will be changed to a proportional system, and the support amount for healthy lifestyle maintenance will be increased from the current 6,000 KRW per month to 12,000 KRW per month. The balance of outpatient medical fees will be refunded to the individual.
In addition, the target for home medical benefit services will be expanded from 37 to 100 people to support medical benefit recipients discharged from hospitals to live comfortably at home.
To this end, Ulsan City revised the “Ordinance on the Establishment and Operation of the Ulsan Metropolitan City Medical Benefit Fund Special Account” on December 19, 2024, which includes the basis for case management projects such as system guidance, information provision, and health counseling for medical benefit recipients.
▲ Resolving Welfare Blind Spots through a Dense Human Safety Net
Ulsan City will also focus on managing crisis information and expanding human safety nets to discover welfare blind spots in 2025. Using big data on 47 types of crisis information such as power and water outages, welfare crisis households will be identified bimonthly, and their well-being and safety will be regularly checked.
The number of honorary social welfare officers active in eup, myeon, and dong areas, including workers in livelihood industries, will be significantly increased, and support for necessary supplies and education to enhance welfare capabilities will be sequentially provided.
Households facing livelihood difficulties due to loss of income of the main earner or serious illness can receive government emergency welfare services if their income is within 75% of the median income, and Ulsan-type emergency welfare services if within 80%. The government emergency welfare livelihood benefit is 1,872,700 KRW per month for a four-person household.
In line with Ulsan’s demographic characteristics, which include many middle-aged and older single male households, programs to prevent and detect solitary deaths will be strengthened. In particular, about 500 households will be selected as focused case management targets centered on comprehensive social welfare centers in each district and county to carefully monitor economic and social isolation.
An official from Ulsan City said, “We will strive to support the vulnerable by guaranteeing minimum living standards to overcome economic difficulties and help self-support so that they can enjoy a healthy and vibrant life.”
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