More low-income households to get state support

By Yi Whan-woo

The government plans to provide state livelihood support for more low-income households as part of its expanded welfare programs.

Under the plan, the number of such households receiving support is expected to increase to 1.88 million this year from 1.4 million in 2012.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Tuesday it will provide subsidies for living, housing, education, medical care, child birth, rehabilitation and funeral services to beneficiaries depending on their circumstances.

Currently no means-testing is done and blanket payments are made covering all seven areas.

The ministry has faced a growing call to revise its policy and provide service for each category individually.

To qualify for financial help, the government has set income amounts for households with a specific number of family members. In 2012, a four-person household was required to earn 1,495,550 won ($1,406) or less per month to be included.

However, many of those excluded from the welfare program said their spending on specific categories, especially living, housing, education and medical care was “too much for them to afford.”

The ministry said they took such complaints as well as the commitment of President-elect Park Geun-hye into consideration in improving its policy. Park has promised to divide the subsidy package so that more poor households will get the benefits.

“We still need to work out details to select the citizens who will benefit from our revised services,” said a ministry official on condition of anonymity.

He added the ministry will submit its revised policy to the presidential transition team for incoming President Park to review and fulfill her commitment.

The ministry said an extra 43 billion won ($40.4 million) will be required to carry out the program if it is approved and goes into effect.