The National Basic Living Security Program (Korea's social assistance scheme) has functioned as an important safety net for Korea's vulnerable populations since its inception in 2000. Several reforms have been undertaken along the way. Among them is an important reform in 2015 that changed the program's benefit payment mechanism, from using the minimum cost of living as a single criterion for determining the eligibility for and levels of various benefits, to using criteria specified for different benefits, those for housing, livelihood, medical needs, education, and others. Also, for the first time in Korea, a general plan for national basic living security was forumulated in 2017.
The effectiveness of the National Basic Living Security Program depends on its design, including its policy goals and delivery system. The outcome of a program or policy, however, also has much to do with how, in line with its design, the program is being managed in the field. With this recognition in mind, the researchers at KIHASA have started and run a forum through which they, together with experts and front-line staff in the field, monitor and discuss how the program is being implemented. The monitoring and evaluation results will feed into the policy process to become part of the evidential base for raising the effectiveness and efficiency of the program.
Ch 1. Introduction ···············································································································1
A. Basic Living Security Program Implementation Monitoring Forum: Its Background and Purpose ·····················································3
B. The Composition and Activities of the Basic Living Seucirty Monitoring Committee ···································································4
C. Expected Outcomes ··························································································································6
Ch 2. Emergency Assistance Program Monitoring ··················································································7
A. Efforts towards and Difficulties of the Emergency Assistance Program ··················································································9
B. Suitableness of the Emergency Assistance Eligibility ···································································································28
C. Adequacy of Emergency Assistance Benefits ···································································································44
D. Finance and Administration of Emergency Assistance ·······························································································68
E. Relating the Emergency Assistance Program to Other Programs ··············································································88
F. Cases Introduction ······················································································································95
G. Monitoring Forum Results ····································································································103
Ch 3. Conditional Benefits System Monitoring ··········································································113
A. Beneficiaries in the Grace Period for Imposing Benefit Conditions ·········································································································115
B. Beneficiaries in the Grace Period for Presenting Benefit Conditions ·········································································································138
C. Beneficiaries Who Didn't Fulfill the Conditions ·············································································································156
D. Directions for Development ······················································································································170
E. Monitoring Forum Results ····································································································202
Ch 4. Housing Benefit Reforms and Monitoring of Front-line Staff's Welfare Awareness ·····························213
A. Suggestions on the Housing Benefit Reforms ························································································215
B. Welfare Awareness of Front-line Staff and Experts ··············································································228
C. Monitoring Forum Results ····································································································257
Ch 5. Management of the Basic Living Security Monitoring Forum in the Future ··················································265
References ···············································································································269
