[비즈한국] It has been confirmed that the government's "Youth Monthly Rent Support" program, which provides rent subsidies to young people facing financial difficulties due to housing costs, has been temporarily suspended in some local governments. While concerns over insufficient funding emerged across the country as early as mid-year, the failure to secure additional budget has led to a suspension of payments in December. Critics point out that government funding remained stagnant even when an increase in demand was expected due to the relaxation of application criteria. Although the affected local governments plan to pay the arrears retroactively starting in January, when next year's budget becomes available, young people who suddenly lost their support funds are facing difficult circumstances.
Monthly 200,000 won support for 'homeless youth' with 50/50 funding from state and local governments
Based on Bizhankook's coverage, the government’s "Special Youth Monthly Rent Support" program will be partially suspended at the end of this year in four of the 17 metropolitan local governments: Daejeon, North Chungcheong Province, North Gyeongsang Province, and South Gyeongsang Province. Even in regions that narrowly avoided payment suspensions in December, difficulties in securing budgets are persisting. Three regions—Gangwon Province, South Chungcheong Province, and North Jeolla Province—appear to be covering the funding gaps by securing additional state and local funds or by reallocating adjustment grants between cities and counties.
The Special Youth Monthly Rent Support program is a scheme that provides up to 200,000 won per month for a maximum of one year (a total of 2.4 million won) to homeless young people aged 19 to 34 who live separately from their parents. It was implemented on a temporary basis to alleviate housing costs, which are cited as the number one financial burden for young adults in their 20s and 30s. Following the first phase of the project in August 2022, a second phase has been underway since February of this year. The first phase provided monthly rent support to approximately 97,000 young people.
The central government's youth rent support is operated by having metropolitan governments receive state funding from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and distribute it to local city, county, and district offices, which then manage the program for the youth in their respective jurisdictions. With the exception of Seoul (where state funding is 30%), the remaining 16 metropolitan local governments split the cost equally between state and local municipal budgets.
It is understood that basic local governments expecting temporary payment suspensions notified the recipients of the situation on the 25th of last month, the scheduled payment date for November. Through individual messages, they informed recipients that "due to the exhaustion of this year's budget for the youth monthly rent support project, payments for December will be difficult," and that the missed December payments would be made in January next year. In some districts of Daejeon, it was noted that while payments usually arrive during early morning hours, they were instead issued in the afternoon on that day. However, some areas have yet to finalize the list of those affected; these regions are expected to notify recipients within the coming week.
Funds "depleted" since summer; limitations in predicting demand for 'youth single-person households'
The suspension of payments as the year-end approaches is attributed to a failure to predict demand and the central government's passive budget execution. According to data on subsidy execution by local government submitted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to the office of Representative Lee Chun-suk, budgets in seven metropolitan local governments had already been exhausted as of the end of September. These include Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, South Chungcheong, North Gyeongsang, and South Gyeongsang.
Local governments complain that it is difficult to accurately predict demand due to the nature of youth single-person households, which involve frequent moves for school or work and initial moves toward independence. A staff member explained, "We confirm eligibility and finalize payments every month by checking for reunification with families, changes or termination of rental contracts, and changes in household composition. There are many factors related to relocations to consider."
An official from the Youth Policy Division of Daejeon City explained, "We take into account the youth and university student population, but since we are predicting the number of applicants, payment delays occurred. We focused on securing the budget from July by requesting funds from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and utilizing supplementary budgets, but the number of applicants surged due to relaxed eligibility conditions." An official from the North Chungcheong Province Population and Youth Policy Office stated, "There are cases where predictions are inevitably off," adding, "We are monitoring previous year demand, payment status, the absolute number of youth and their proportion, various infrastructure, job factors, and relocation trends." In North Chungcheong, funding shortages appeared in Cheongju, Chungju, and Jeungpyeong, while in South Gyeongsang, they appeared in Changwon and Jinju. Despite last-minute budget adjustments, payment delays are expected in Cheongju, Chungju, and Changwon. Most of these are areas with large youth populations within their respective metropolitan units.
Critics point out that even though the second phase of the project, implemented this year, removed the "once-in-a-lifetime" limitation and saw increased awareness leading to more applicants, the budget failed to keep up with this demand. With the removal of housing requirements (deposit of 50 million won or less and monthly rent of 700,000 won or less) as a follow-up to a public livelihood debate held this past April, an expansion of beneficiaries was already expected.
The Jeonju City Council, upon realizing that this year's budget for local youth had run out, urged the government on the 14th of last month to inject emergency funds for normal payments. Choi Seo-yeon, a Jeonju City Council member who proposed the resolution, told Bizhankook, "As the second phase of the project was pushed forward without proper guidelines on demand, the number of applicants surged, but sufficient budget was not provided." She added, "Youth are forced to choose monthly rent due to issues like 'jeonse' fraud and low wages. Stable payments are crucial to maximize the policy's effectiveness." An official from the North Jeolla Province Youth Policy Division stated, "Because Jeonju City lacked funds for one month, we requested them from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and now that the allocated amount has arrived, the provincial government and Jeonju City will establish a supplementary budget. It will be finalized next week and payments will resume as normal."
Even in places not yet at "zero" balance, some are experiencing difficulties securing funds, just like Jeonju. Gangwon and North Chungcheong provinces have requested additional state funding or initiated their own supplementary budgets to resolve the issue of budget shortages in some cities and counties. An official from the Gangwon Provincial Construction Division stated, "We have continuously requested state funds from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and additional funds have been allocated. We are not currently in a situation where the budget is insufficient." An official from the South Chungcheong Province Youth Policy Office stated, "We reflected [the budget status of Cheonan City, etc.] in the regular supplementary budget, and according to the plan, funds will be normally distributed through adjustment grants by pulling them from other cities and counties that have surplus project funds."
The Special Youth Monthly Rent Support program is accepting applications for the second phase until February 25 next year. Whether the project will continue afterward has not yet been decided. An official from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Youth Housing Policy Division stated, "We are continuously providing additional grants whenever local governments inform us that they need funding. It is not that the state budget is insufficient. Since this is a matching program that also requires local funding, we understand that some local governments did not make additional requests [to the ministry] depending on their individual circumstances."