Welfare system failing to rescue poor
Suwon city's welfare officials talk with a city resident in need of urgent help during their visit. The government's social welfare policy again came under fire after a three-member family with financial problems committed suicide earlier this week. / Korea Times fileBy Kim Se-jeongThe government's social welfare system has come under fire after a three-member family struggling with financial difficulties committed suicide earlier this week. On Monday, the police in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, found three people ― two adult women and one child ― dead in their home. In a hand-written note, the child's mother mentioned financial struggles as the cause for the drastic decision. The child's mother was separated from the father and was supporting the family. This is only one of many similar stories heard in recent years. According to the Hankyoreh, 18 similar cases have been reported last year alone with 70 people dead. What was commonly found in those families was that they were never detected by government welfare service providers. The local Gimpo government found no record of the mother
