Seoul City’s controversial plan to hand out cash allowances to young job seekers has finally gotten the nod from the central government, ending a yearlong dispute.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare had opposed Seoul’s plan, calling it a populist move, but it decided to endorse it Friday, citing revisions made by the Seoul Metropolitan Government to the original program at the ministry’s request.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare (Yonhap)
“We refused to ratify the program last year when it failed to meet certain requirements,” the ministry said in a statement.
“But following our request, the Seoul Metropolitan Government submitted a revised plan in January, which we reviewed favorably,” it added.
The program will run from June, targeting 5,000 unemployed young adults aged 19-34 living in Seoul, the city said.
Each of them will receive 500,000 won ($439) a month for up to six months, so they can escape “a vicious circle of having to earn money first in order to study to land jobs,” officials said.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government first brought up the idea of the youth subsidy program in November 2015. It said that providing cash was the most practical and effective way to support underprivileged youth who struggle with long-term unemployment.
The central government’s policy has been largely ineffective and failed to lead to any real improvements, it added.
The ministry hit back at Seoul for undermining the principles of the national welfare policy and claimed that the city government must obtain its approval before pushing ahead with the plan.
According to related laws, the government has the authority to suspend or cancel a municipality’s welfare program if it violates laws or damages public interest.
A banner of youth subsidy, put up by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in 2016 (Yonhap)
Despite the ministry’s objection, in August last year, Seoul City distributed the first cash handouts to 2,831 recipients who met its requirements.
It had planned to give cash each month to citizens aged 19-29 who have lived in Seoul for more than a year and are working less than 30 hours per week.
But immediately after the payments, the ministry issued a correction order to the Seoul Metropolitan Government to halt the program.
Shutting the program down the next day, the ministry called it “morally unsound” and “illegal,” because they had never ratified it.
Meanwhile, sources said that the ministry’s sudden approval of the youth subsidy last week was mostly due to the current administration’s leadership vacuum caused by the impeachment of ousted President Park Geun-hye.
Unlike last year when the ministry was still adamant on its position, it changed its mind during the third round of discussions earlier this year, a Seoul City official said.
By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)