Received Unemployment Benefits 20 Times, Totaling 96 Million Won... Kim Seungsoo of People Power Party Says "Measures Needed Against Abuse of Unemployment Benefits"

The number of recipients who have received unemployment benefits (job-seeking benefits) two or more times over the past five years has been steadily increasing.

According to the status of unemployment benefit recipients obtained from the Ministry of Employment and Labor by Representative Kim Seungsoo (People Power Party, Daegu Buk-gu Eul) on the 16th, the proportion of repeat recipients who received unemployment benefits two or more times increased from 24.7% in 2020 to 28.9% in 2024.

Kim Seungsu, member of the People Power Party

By year, the total number of unemployment benefit recipients in 2020 was 1,703,000, of which 421,000 (24.7%) were repeat recipients. In 2021, there were 1,774,000 recipients, with 446,000 (25.1%) receiving benefits two or more times.

In 2022, there were 1,631,000 recipients and 436,000 repeat recipients (26.7%). In 2023, there were 1,672,000 recipients and 474,000 repeat recipients (28.3%). In 2024, the number of recipients was 1,697,000, with 490,000 repeat recipients (28.9%), showing a steady increase in the proportion of repeat recipients.

The rise in the number of people receiving unemployment benefits two or more times is attributed not only to the lack of stable, high-quality jobs but also to the growing number of recipients who repeatedly take short-term jobs and continue to receive unemployment benefits.

The FTA Research Institute, in its report "The Impact of Unemployment Benefits on Non-Regular Workers," analyzed that "while a high level of unemployment benefits provides economic stability for job seekers, it also carries the risk of moral hazard," and "this leads to a situation where job seekers repeatedly alternate between employment and unemployment to continuously receive benefits."

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the recipient who received unemployment benefits the most did so 24 times, and the recipient who received the largest total amount collected as much as 96,611,970 KRW over 20 claims.

Additionally, cases of fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits are not decreasing.

Looking at the detection and recovery of fraudulent unemployment benefit claims over the past five years, the annual average number of detected cases was about 24,000, with the amount involved reaching approximately 28 billion KRW. In 2020, there were 24,257 cases totaling about 23.7 billion KRW; in 2021, 25,751 cases totaling about 28.2 billion KRW; in 2022, 23,871 cases totaling about 26.8 billion KRW; in 2023, 20,295 cases totaling about 29.9 billion KRW; and in 2024, 24,447 cases totaling about 32.3 billion KRW.

Representative Kim Seungsoo pointed out, "Cases of people repeatedly receiving unemployment benefits through short-term work or by fraudulent means, thereby undermining the original intent of the unemployment benefit system, continue to occur."

The unemployment benefit system, introduced in 1995 to support workers' livelihood stability and prompt return to the labor market, pays out more than 10 trillion KRW every year.

Major countries overseas are also making various efforts to prevent fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits. According to the National Assembly Research Service, in the United States, each state has its own eligibility requirements and penalties for those who abuse or misuse unemployment benefit programs. The United Kingdom established the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) in 1997 to address fraudulent claims, and France imposes additional employment insurance premiums based on the scale of short-term employment contracts to discourage their use and reduce employment instability as a side effect.

Representative Kim Seungsoo stated, "Unemployment benefits were introduced to help unemployed workers cope with temporary loss of income and to motivate them to find new jobs," but added, "However, there appear to be many cases where the system is abused and actually reduces job-seeking motivation."

He emphasized, "Fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits cause financial leakage in the insurance fund and deprive legitimate recipients and socially vulnerable groups of their rights, making it a serious social issue. Institutional improvements are needed, such as limiting the number of benefit claims, reducing job-seeking benefits for repeat recipients, and extending the current base period of 18 months and the contribution period of 180 days."