Structuring Pension Reform to Reflect Youth Voices
Government Budget Contributions to the Pension Fund Must Start Now
Young lawmakers who opposed the 'pay more, receive more' pension parameter reform emphasized that the voices of the youth must be reflected in future pension reform processes. These lawmakers, spanning both ruling and opposition parties, also demanded the initiation of discussions on government budget contributions to the pension fund.
On the 23rd, eight members of the National Assembly, including Lee So-young, Jang Cheol-min, and Jeon Yong-gi from the Democratic Party of Korea, Kim Yong-tae, Kim Jae-seop, and Woo Jae-joon from the People Power Party, Cheon Ha-ram, acting party leader and floor leader of the Reform New Party, and Lee Joo-young, chairman of the Policy Committee, held a press conference. They stated regarding pension reform, "We must properly persuade those who need to pay more, not those who receive more," and called for youth participation in the pension special committee and government budget contributions to the National Pension Fund.
They criticized the pension reform announced on the 20th, saying, "It proposes to immediately increase insurance benefits but raise the insurance premium rate for future generations to 13%," and added, "It is difficult to find any responsible measures such as sacrifice plans for the current generation or concrete government obligations." They further pointed out, "At a time when distrust of the National Pension among the younger generation is already high, this decision has further widened the intergenerational imbalance," and "It has failed to strengthen the sustainability of the National Pension."
Regarding future pension reform discussions, they demanded guaranteed participation of the younger generation. To this end, they stated, "From the formation of the National Assembly pension special committee, lawmakers in their 30s and 40s should make up more than half," and "The number of members in the pension special committee should not be limited to 13 but should be significantly expanded to over 20 to better incorporate voices from diverse generations and social groups." They also urged the implementation of opinion-gathering procedures to include youth voices beyond the special committee.
They also advocated for government budget contributions to the fund. They said, "Although the parameter adjustment has postponed the fund depletion point by a few years, relying solely on the intergenerational support structure makes it difficult to prevent fund exhaustion," and "Fiscal input must begin now." Regarding the scale of fiscal input, they noted, "Facing the harsh reality that some argue 1% of GDP must be invested annually to sustain the fund, even if it is difficult to immediately allocate that level of funding, it is a responsible attitude to start with what is possible and continue discussions."
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