The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said on the 15th that it is pushing the "self-employed employment insurance premium support program" to strengthen the social safety net.
Employment insurance for the self-employed is a system that supports unemployment benefits and job training after business closure. Total enrollment rose about 3.5 times from 17,500 in 2017 to 61,632 this year. New enrollments also increased more than fivefold over the same period, from 4,215 to 21,528. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) is supporting 50% to 80% of premiums for up to five years for self-employed people who enroll.
Starting this year, South Chungcheong Province will newly participate in the self-employed employment insurance premium support program. As a result, people anywhere in the country can receive both central government support and additional local government support. South Chungcheong plans to additionally support 20% to 50% of premiums for up to five years for one-person self-employed workers, depending on the standard remuneration grade. In Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province and South Chungcheong, when combining central and local government support, premiums can be covered up to 100%.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) and the Small Enterprise and Market Service plan to work with local governments through information sharing and linking notification messages to identify self-employed people who applied only to either the central or local program and reduce support blind spots. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) also plans to expand on-site guidance and publicity this year with a goal of supporting a total of 42,200 people.
Choi Won-young, director general for microbusiness policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), said, "If you enroll in employment insurance for the self-employed, you can receive unemployment benefits and job training support when you close your business, and the premium support program can also reduce your premium burden."