The government is reportedly pushing a plan, as of the 19th, to raise the job-seeking promotion allowance that low-income job seekers can receive from 600,000 won a month to 650,000 won a month next year and 700,000 won a month the year after. The phased increase of the job-seeking promotion allowance is included in the Lee Jae-myung administration's national agenda.
The job-seeking promotion allowance was introduced in 2021. It targets people whose income is 60% or less of the median income and whose assets are 400 million won or less (500 million won for youth ages 15–34). They must also have at least 100 days or 800 hours of work experience in the past two years. About 250,000 people receive the job-seeking promotion allowance each year.
The job-seeking promotion allowance is paid for six months and started at 500,000 won a month when it was introduced. It was raised to 600,000 won a month this year, the first increase in five years. This is 48.13% of the minimum monthly living cost for a single-person household (1,246,453 won in 2023).
Accordingly, the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) is pushing a plan to raise the job-seeking promotion allowance to 650,000 won a month next year and to 700,000 won a month the year after. A ministry official said, "Prices have continued to rise, but the job-seeking promotion allowance stayed the same for five years after its introduction," adding, "We aim to increase it to strengthen livelihood support for low-income job seekers going forward."
The ministry plans to include funding for the increase in the job-seeking promotion allowance in next year's budget request and submit it to the Ministry of Planning and Budget within this month.