Korea to Spend 43.3 Trillion Won on Youth Policy Next Year

The South Korean government will spend 43.3 trillion won on youth programs next year, a 53.5% increase from this year. Support that has centered on employment and housing will be widened to cover birth and child-rearing, education, jobs and startups, asset building, marriage and childbirth, with as much as 195.82 million won available per person in what the government calls a restored "growth ladder."

The plan, titled a comprehensive investment strategy for each stage of youth growth, was announced jointly by relevant ministries on the 28th at an event called "Youth Budget Unboxing 2027," presided over by President Lee Jae-myung.

The youth budget was set at 43.3 trillion won, up 15.1 trillion won from 28.2 trillion won this year. The biggest change is the shift from individual programs to a support framework organized by life stage, from birth to independence.

Under the plan, a first child born next year in a designated priority region outside the capital area, to parents earning 100% of the median income — 5,718,091 won a month for a three-person household — could receive up to 140.57 million won by age 18 and up to 195.82 million won by age 34. The figures represent the combined maximum of fiscal, tax and financial support available.

Asset-building support will begin at birth. The government will create a fund, called the Our Child Independence Fund, in which the state and parents contribute and invest together to build 60 million to 100 million won by the time the child turns 18, and it will remove the income requirement for the general track of the Youth Future Savings program. On jobs, the government will expand the K-New Deal Academy to 50,000 participants from 10,000, run a first-career project for 60,000 university students and broaden artificial intelligence job training. It aims to help at least 90,000 young people find work next year.

"Before we tell young people to work hard, we must build a society where they can get opportunities that match their effort," Lee said. "And the most important of those opportunities is economic opportunity."