Starting in 2027, the government will gradually lower the reduction rate applied to elderly couples receiving the basic pension, beginning with low-income households.
According to the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee on the 16th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare reported the status of major policy initiatives containing these details at a full session of the standing committee on the 10th.
At the meeting, the ministry said it would first improve the "couple reduction system," which has reduced each spouse's basic pension by 20% on the grounds that both receive it, focusing on vulnerable groups.
Under the basic pension couple reduction system currently in place, when both spouses among seniors 65 and older in the bottom 70% by income receive the pension, 20% is deducted from each person's benefit.
The system was introduced based on the idea that when couples live together, they share housing and living expenses, reducing costs. It also aimed to align fairness with single-elderly households and ease the burden on public finances. However, since implementation, critics have said it could threaten the livelihoods of low-income elderly couples.
In fact, according to the National Pension Research Institute, the average monthly consumption expenditure of elderly couple households in the lowest 20% income bracket is 1.74 times higher than that of single-elderly households.
Meanwhile, a bill to phase out the couple reduction system has been introduced in politics. Lee Su-jin of the Democratic Party of Korea has proposed legislation to lower the current 20% reduction rate to 10% in 2026 and 5% in 2027, then abolish it entirely in 2028. In that case, additional public finances of about 3.4 trillion won per year on average from 2026 to 2030 are expected to be required.