Senior Job Cuts: Local Budget Concerns | Korea News

As of 2025, the elderly population aged 65 or older is 21.21%. We are in the deepening stage of a super-aging society. This shows that policy response is even more urgent. The senior citizen job project is a welfare program that supports productive retirement life. It is largely divided into public interest type (290,000 won per month) and social service type (790,000 won per month). It is a resource matching project with 50% national funds, 25% city and provincial funds, and 25% military and district funds. However, it is said that some counties and districts in Incheon do not even allocate this budget every year. For this reason, up to 75% of national and municipal funds are returned. This means that more than 1,000 senior citizens are losing their jobs every year.

The government is expanding projects to create jobs for the elderly in preparation for a super-aging society. In July 2023, the ‘3rd Comprehensive Plan to Support Employment and Social Activities for the Elderly’ was prepared. Accordingly, Incheon City is also increasing the scale of its senior citizen job creation project. 46,646 people in 2024, 53,596 people in 2025, etc. This year, Incheon City will spend 240 billion won to create 55,396 jobs for the elderly.

However, some counties and districts in Incheon are not properly preparing the matching project cost equivalent to 25% due to financial burden. For this reason, every year, projects to create jobs for the elderly that fall short of the government’s goals are repeated. Last year, Michuhol, Gyeyang, and Bupyeong-gu were like that. The government and Incheon city support budget that these three districts returned due to their inability to match project costs amounted to 2 billion won. If it had not been returned, it would have created 1,500 jobs for the elderly.

This year, Michuhol, Gyeyang, and Seo-gu are having to return the government and Incheon city support budget. This is because the matching funds for senior jobs were not sufficiently reflected in the budget preparation process at the end of last year. This year, more than 1,000 senior citizens’ jobs were lost. It is also problematic that this situation is repeated, especially in the original downtown area. This is an area with a large elderly population, so there is greater demand for jobs. That’s why the competition rate for senior job projects is higher in the original downtown area. Last year, the competition rate for senior jobs in long-term care services in Bupyeong-gu was 6.2 to 1.

The explanation is that these counties and districts have low financial independence. However, compared to the size of the budget of Incheon local governments, it is a pittance. Ultimately, this is evidence that the priority of the senior citizen job creation project is being pushed to the back burner. There is a survey conducted by the Incheon Social Service Institute on poverty among the elderly in Incheon. It is said that 4 out of 10 people aged 75 or older are living in income poverty. Jobs for the elderly are different from jobs for young people. It is not a ‘part-time job’ or a ‘fake job’. Although the pay is low, it is a job they desperately need. Pictures are drawn of seniors lining up at the job counter without realizing that they had reduced their government support budget by returning it.

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