Of all OECD countries, only Korea and the US lack a national sickness benefit scheme. In the US, there have been continued efforts at the federal level to implement sickness benefit programs, but they have repeatedly been stalled by Congress. As a result, the federal government and some states run their own sickness benefit schemes in different ways. The federal government guarantees Family and Medical Leave (12 weeks of unpaid sick leave). Also, under a federal executive order, businesses that are in contractual relationships with the federal government are required to provide their employees with up to 56 hours of paid sick leave annually. In 16 states and Washington D.C., sick leave of around 40 hours is mandated in the absence of a federal sickness benefit scheme. Additionally, nine states and Washington D.C. offer sickness benefits as part of social insurance. This article examines sickness benefit programs in the US and discusses the implications they have for Korea. For example, this article suggests that in order to implement a national sickness benefit scheme in Korea, sick workers’ right to rest must be legally guaranteed.
The US is one of the few welfare states that do not have a national paid sick leave scheme. However, since 2010, at least 10 state and municipal governments have enacted or drafted their own paid sick leave schemes, and, in many states, different types of paid sick leave were made available depending on the employer. Recently, discussions on the implementation of a paid sick leave policy at the federal level have been active in US political circles led by the Democratic Party. This article investigates the development process and characteristics of the US federal sick leave system and examines the prospects of implementing paid sick leave in the future. In addition, this study derives policy implications from the US case that are relevant to Korea as it gears up to implement a national sickness benefit scheme.
In 2018, the state of Massachusetts started requiring workers to get sick benefits. These benefits are meant to help workers who lose income and have to pay for medical bills because of an injury or illness that is not related to their job. The Massachusetts sickness benefit program is unique in that it was made possible by agreements made in a working group made up of community leaders, business owners, and politicians, with strong support from the public. The Massachusetts sickness benefit program, thought to be the most generous of all state sickness allowance programs in the US, both in terms of the length of time people can get benefits and the amount of money they get, is taking root smoothly.
Washington State’s sickness benefit scheme―Paid Family and Medical Leave―has, from its inception on, been implemented predicated on the big principle: “Offering benefits without discrimination based on income level, gender, industry, or kind of job.” In the two years following the program’s official introduction in January 2020, over 300,000 workers have benefited from the system. Such a large number of beneficiaries, far more than had been anticipated earlier, led to a slew of operational issues that weighed heavily on the program. This study looks at how Washington State’s sickness benefit scheme works and what problems it has had, and draws out some implications for Korea as it begins to establish its own system.
This article discusses how child statistics are generated in France, reports on a recent French survey on children’s quality of life, and considers the implications of the French experience for child statistics in Korea. Since France joined the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, there has been an effort, particularly since 2017, led by the High Council for Family, Childhood, and Aging (Haut Conseil de la famille, de l’enfance et de l’？ge: HCFEA), to develop national data and carry out statistical surveys that cover every aspect of children’s lives. The data and public studies on children conducted by the HCFEA and three national statistics surveys on children’s welfare and quality of life that were conducted after 2019 show the direction France’s child policy is moving in and offer recommendations for Korea, where discussions about children’s welfare and child-centered statistics are currently taking place.
In September 2021, the German for Affairs, Citizens, and Youth issued the Implementation of the Federal Government’s Equal Strategy Measures according to Goals, defining comprehensive plans and specific gender equality policy implementations. In November 2022, the German Federal Parliament began discussing the Federal Ministry’s report on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. This study examines these publications in order to gain a better understanding of the current state of Germany’s key gender equality programs and to draw out implications for Korea’s gender equality policy.
This article examines how the US has facilitated electronic health record (EHR) adoption through its EHR Incentive Program and Regional Extension Centers (RECs). Established in 62 different locations throughout the US, the RECs have helped primary care physicians, small hospitals, and rural health clinics adopt EHRs and meet the requirements for incentives. This program consisted of assistance in EHR adoption and maintenance, education and training on health information communication, assistance in the protection and safety of private information, and continued technical assistance. The result of such support was a large increase in the adoption of EHRs among small hospitals and rural health clinics. The US case suggests that Korea needs customized support programs for small hospitals and clinics, for whom the rate of participation in the national electronic medical record certification system remains extremely low.
