The government is pushing to double to 1,000 the number of participants next year in the "social value youth work-experience" program, which it introduced for the first time this year, according to reports on the 24th. In this program, unemployed young people ages 15 to 34 work 30 hours a week for eight to 12 weeks at social corporations, receive a monthly participation stipend of 1.7 million won, and get job training and mentoring.
According to ChosunBiz reporting compiled that day, the Ministry of Planning and Budget and the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) are discussing including in the 2027 budget plan a measure to increase the number of beneficiaries of the social value youth work-experience support program from 500 this year to 1,000 next year, and to expand the related budget from a little over 3 billion won to 7 billion won. The program was pushed as part of the "Youth New Deal promotion plan" that the government released in April. Participating corporations can receive part of the funds needed for operations.
For this year's youth recruitment, about 1,200 people applied, far exceeding the initial target of 500. Taking this demand into account, the government plans to first double the number of beneficiaries and the budget next year. An official at the labor ministry said, "As the situation in which young people find it difficult to enter the labor market continues, there were talks that the role of social corporations that can embrace this area is more necessary, so we decided to expand the program."
Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics (MODS), the youth unemployment rate in July was 6.8%, up 1.3 percentage points from a year earlier. This is the largest increase since January 2021 (1.8 percentage points), during the COVID-19 period. The youth employment rate was 44.2%, the lowest since July 2020 (42.7%).