When visiting local small and medium-sized enterprises, 1,000,000 won per month… comprehensive support for young people

The Korean government announced a new youth support budget last month, on December 28th, ahead of the budget presentation for the next year. The budget aims to address the shortage of jobs, income and asset gaps in the youth population, which have been accumulating during the industrial structure transition period. The government plans to provide comprehensive support from education to marriage, employment, and asset formation throughout the youth's life.

The government's comprehensive strategy for different stages of youth growth is detailed in the 'Youth Growth Phase-by-Phase Comprehensive Investment Strategy'. The government increased the youth budget by 53.5% from 28.2 trillion won this year to 43.3 trillion won next year. To encourage young employees in companies, the 'Youth Employment Promotion Award' will now extend its support to mid-sized and small-sized enterprises in both urban and rural areas, with a maximum payout of 1.8 million won.

The 'Youth Future Savings' scheme, which previously offered 2 million won to young employees making monthly contributions to their savings, will now include all young people and increase the contribution to a maximum of 1.8 million won. The government will also raise the government matching ratio for local and small-sized enterprises from 12% to 25%.

The 'Youth Cultural Pass' will now support all young people aged 19-34 with monthly allowances of 100,000-150,000 won, expanding beyond traditional cultural events to include sports. Young employees in local and small-sized enterprises will receive a combined total of approximately 100,000 won in benefits, including the youth employment promotion award, youth future savings matching ratio enhancement, and youth cultural pass.

The government claims this is to address the gap between the actual wages of young employees and their desired wages, which was found to be 100,000 won per month. The government will provide full scholarships for medical students at all national universities, except for pharmaceuticals, and a full-ride scholarship for university students using artificial intelligence in their studies.

Additionally, new 'Parental Leave' will be introduced, providing financial support ranging from 1 million to 2 million won to new parents, regardless of their income level. The 'Child-raising Support' scheme will be consolidated into a single 'Parental Support Grant', with amounts ranging from 1 million to 2 million won based on factors such as birth order and living location.

The government also plans to introduce a 'Our Child's Self-Funding' scheme where parents who consistently save a certain amount can receive government matching funds.