hankyoreh

The annual growth of the social security budget under the Roh Moo-hyun administration has been about half of that of the prior Kim Dae-jung administration. In addition, the size of the social security budget has not changed in accordance with that of the entire government budget.

The Hankyoreh analyzed the social security budget from 1998 to 2006, and during the February 2002 to present Roh administration, the budget increased to about 15 trillion won in 2006 from about 11 trillion won in 2003, a 10.1-percent annual increase, whereas the figure increased an average 19.6 percent year-on-year during the Kim administration, in power from February 1998 to January 2002.

The social security budget consists of eight categories, including national insurances; workers’ welfare; job security benefits; job training; and public health services. The annual increase of the "social development budget," which encompasses both the social security budget as well as areas of culture and tourism, environmental improvement, and housing and regional development was 9.8 percent for the incumbent administration, far below than 19.0 percent annual rate of increase seen during the Kim administration.

By the time the Kim administration ended in 2002, the social security budget accounted for 10.1 percent of the entire government budget, a 2.8-percent increase over the entire admnistration. During the Roh administration, the ratio stayed at around 10 percent, with little increase over the administration’s term.

Only the budget for helping low-income citizens and working parents seeking childcare saw an increase out of the total categories encompassed by the social welfare budget. The budgets for these two programs saw a spike in 2005, jumping to 6.8 trillion won from about 5.2 trillion won in 2003.

In response to the Hankyoreh’s analysis of social security under the Roh administration, Ha Seong, an official of the Ministry of Planning and Budget, said that support for the needy and budgeting for childcare programs for working parents have been sharply increased. In connection with the overall stagnation of social security budget growth, Ha said that he had not reviewed the items in detail.

Lee Tae-su, a professor of Kkottongnae Hyundo University of Social Welfare, said that the Roh administration has discussed social welfare-related plans such as "Vision 2030," but has not notably increased the welfare budget. "The government’s policy since 2005 of sending its social welfare money to the provinces may have had an effect on the growth rate of the social security budget," said Professor Lee.

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