KOR
▲ Recipients of basic livelihood security, the near-poor, and single-parent families receive cards containing support funds at the Bukjong-myeon Integrated Administrative Welfare Center in Jochiwon-eup, Sejong City, on April 27, when the first round of "high oil price relief funds" began being distributed.
The number of National Basic Livelihood Security recipients last year was tallied at 2.84 million, with 44 percent of them identified as adults aged 65 or older.
In addition, more than 1 out of every 10 elderly people turned out to be a basic livelihood security recipient.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Health and Welfare's "2025 Status of National Basic Livelihood Security Recipients," the number of recipients stood at 2,836,706 as of the end of last year, a 6.1 percent increase from 2,673,485 the previous year.
Among the recipients, general recipients accounted for 96.3 percent at 2,732,235, while facility recipients living in social welfare facilities and other places accounted for 3.7 percent at 104,471.
The basic livelihood security system is a welfare program in which the state provides benefits to help low-income families with their living expenses.
Benefits are granted when recognized income falls below a certain threshold and recipients have no one to support them, or when supporters lack the ability to provide support.
Breaking down general recipients by age group, seniors aged 65 and older accounted for 1,212,262, making up 44.4 percent of the total.
This was followed by middle-aged adults (ages 40 to 64) at 31.7 percent, young adults (ages 20 to 39) at 9.9 percent, adolescents (ages 12 to 19) at 8.8 percent, school-age children (ages 6 to 11) at 4.0 percent, and infants and toddlers (ages 0 to 5) at 1.2 percent.
The proportion of general basic livelihood security recipients relative to the total population was 5.3 percent (5.5 percent when including facility recipients).
The proportion of general recipients among the population aged 65 and older was the highest at 11.2 percent.
This means that more than 1 out of every 10 elderly individuals is a basic livelihood security recipient.
By gender, female recipients outnumbered male recipients with 1,517,149 compared to 1,215,086 men.
Looking at the basic livelihood security recipient rate by region, North Jeolla Province was the highest at 8.2 percent, followed by Busan at 7.9 percent, and Gwangju at 7.6 percent.
The regions with the lowest recipient rates were Sejong at 2.6 percent, followed by Gyeonggi at 4.0 percent, Ulsan at 4.6 percent, and South Chungcheong Province at 4.9 percent.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.
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