Ministry of Health and Welfare Must Immediately Revise the 'Basic Property Amount Bracket Notice for Social Welfare Benefits'

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Jun-sung] The mayors and city council chairs of three special metropolitan cities, including Suwon, have called for the Ministry of Health and Welfare to immediately proceed with revising the 'Basic Property Amount Bracket Notice for Social Welfare Benefits.'

Suwon Mayor Yeom Tae-young, Changwon Mayor Heo Sung-moo, Yongin Mayor Baek Gun-gi, and the city council chairs of Suwon, Changwon, and Yongin conducted a relay solo protest in front of the Ministry of Health and Welfare at the Government Complex in Sejong on the morning of the 14th, urging the revision of the 'basic property amount bracket notice.'

The relay solo protest was attended by the mayors of the three cities and City Council Chairs Jo Seok-hwan of Suwon, Kim Ki-jun of Yongin, Lee Chi-woo of Changwon, and Goyang City Deputy Policy Director for Peace and Future Policy Yang Seung-hwan.

Prior to the solo protest, the mayors and city council chairs of the three cities released a statement urging the revision of the 'basic property amount bracket notice,' demanding: "The Ministry of Health and Welfare must immediately revise the 'Basic Property Amount Bracket Notice for Social Welfare Benefits' that discriminates against 4.5 million special metropolitan city residents."

They stated: "Although these cities have become special metropolitan cities, the welfare benefit standards still apply the criteria for 'small and medium-sized cities' from over 20 years ago," and "Even with populations exceeding one million, residents applying for social welfare benefits are subject to the standards for small and medium-sized cities and continue to suffer from systematic discrimination."

They further criticized: "We have requested the relevant ministries to revise the notice and have met multiple times with the Minister of Health and Welfare, the Prime Minister, and members of the National Assembly to make recommendations, but the Ministry of Health and Welfare and related ministries have adopted a passive stance citing financial burden."

They added: "We, the mayors and city council chairs representing 4.5 million special metropolitan city residents, have decided to take action," and "We will continue the solo protest indefinitely until the revised notice is submitted to the Central Livelihood Security Committee or the 'upward revision of standards' is accepted."

Mayor Yeom Tae-young stated: "Although cities with a population of over one million have higher housing prices and living costs than metropolitan cities, the standards for social welfare benefits are set lower than those for metropolitan cities, causing disadvantages to residents," urging "The Ministry of Health and Welfare must immediately revise the notice and take the lead in eliminating the disadvantages faced by special metropolitan city residents."

During the protest, the mayors and city council chairs of the three cities met with Park Yang-seong, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and delivered a statement urging the revision of the 'basic property amount bracket notice' and a request letter for the revision of the notice.

First Vice Minister Park Yang-seong stated: "We will expedite the consideration of the notice revision scheduled for 2023," and "When we convene the full meeting of the Central Livelihood Security Committee, we will discuss the revision of the notice with experts."

Meanwhile, cities with a population exceeding one million have socioeconomic scale and living standards similar to 'large cities' (Seoul and metropolitan cities), but when selecting welfare recipients, they are classified as 'small and medium-sized cities,' resulting in lower basic property amounts compared to large cities.

Under the current system, when selecting recipients of basic livelihood security, there is a 'basic property amount' that deducts amounts according to city size—69 million won for large cities, 42 million won for small and medium-sized cities, and 35 million won for rural areas.

Since the standards for selecting welfare recipients are classified into only three groups—'large cities,' 'small and medium-sized cities,' and 'rural cities'—Suwon City, with a population of 1.23 million, is included in small and medium-sized cities rather than large cities. Although the population is equivalent to a metropolitan city, it is subject to the same standards applied to basic local governments with populations of 50,000 to 100,000.

Due to the unreasonable welfare recipient selection standards, citizens of four special metropolitan cities cannot receive welfare benefits on legal grounds even when their property scale is similar to that of 'large city' residents.