Gov’t, ruling party agree to ramp up support to unemployed, isolated youth

The government and the ruling People Power Party (PPP) agreed Tuesday to take measures to support the unemployed youth and to swiftly pass a bill aimed at assisting the "youth in crisis." During their policy consultations, the two sides decided to support young people seeking employment by increasing work opportunities at their desired workplaces and providing tailed job support services to up to 180,000 university students and 60,000 graduates, according to Rep. Kim Sang-hoon, the PPP's top policymaker. They also agreed to launch a savings incentive program next month for the youth working in small and medium-sized enterprises. Additionally, the government and the PPP decided to increase the budget for supporting youth employment to 2.29 trillion won (US$1.7 billion) next year, up 16 percent from 1.96 trillion won this year. Of this, 20 billion won will be allocated to provide intensive, tailored programs to help young people experiencing long-term unemployment. The two sides also agreed to swiftly leg islate a bill on assisting the "youth in crisis," which includes those socially isolated and those who are the breadwinners of their families Source: Yonhap News Agency