The government has established its first set of social welfare policy goals, setting aside KRW 316 trillion between now and 2018, as announced during a cabinet meeting on August 5. The plan is designed to improve the country's social welfare system by building social safety nets catered to different periods of people's lives and by helping low-income households become self-sufficient through employment.



Under the plan, ten ministries, including the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Employment and Labor, will spend KRW 316 trillion on 211 projects designed to achieve three policy goals: create a social safety net, help low-income families become self-sufficient with employment and establish a sustainable social welfare system.

Social welfare policy goals (2014-2018)

Policy goal	Plans
Create a social safety net	- Provide additional support to at-risk pregnant mothers - Introduce temporary or hourly childcare services; expand afterschool activities at elementary schools - Place career counselors at all middle and high schools - Expand health insurance payments to cover four major diseases - Provide a basic pension for up to 70% of the elderly population; offer more jobs for seniors - Expand bilingual education for multicultural families
Welfare through employment	- Introduce an apprentice system for youths; expand public sector jobs for young adults - Expand the number of women who take maternity leave; provide more flexible-hour jobs - Extend the retirement age to 60
Establish a sustainable social welfare system	- Set up a long-term financing goal for the national pension plan - Create 6,000 government jobs focusing on social welfare; improve labor conditions at those positions

If everything goes smoothly, the portion of medical expenses not covered by health insurance is expected to fall, from 35.2 percent in 2011 to 33 percent by 2018. The country's fertility rate, or the number of births per woman throughout her life span, is likely to rise from 1.19 in 2013 to 1.3 in 2018, and the percentage of workplaces with a childcare center will increase from 39.1 percent in 2012 to 70 percent over the same period.




By Limb Jae-un
Korea.net Staff Writer
jun2@korea.kr