Welfare gaps persist despite expanded safety net

A string of family deaths across South Korea has exposed persistent gaps in the welfare system, with three cases reported over the past 10 days in Imsil, Gunsan and Ulsan. Despite 1,324 government social welfare programs in operation as of last year, none succeeded in preventing the tragedies. Some households were never identified as at risk because they failed to meet eligibility thresholds. In other cases, warning signs were detected but sustained intervention proved difficult under existing rules. The incidents point to structural weaknesses in a fragmented safety net.

Following the 2014 mother and two daughters case in Seoul's Songpa District, the government has worked to identify vulnerable households in advance. Authorities track 47 indicators, including utility arrears, service shutoffs and unpaid health insurance premiums, while local governments conduct outreach and guide residents to available support. Even so, the system has struggled to capture every household in crisis. In Gunsan, a mother and son who later died had fallen two months behind on utility bills, falling short of the three-month threshold that triggers monitoring, and did not receive assistance.

Even when at-risk households are identified, most welfare programs require individuals to apply before receiving benefits. This application-based system creates blind spots. Older adults with limited access to information, socially isolated young people and people with mental disabilities often fail to apply and are excluded. Others refrain from applying due to complex paperwork or the stigma of being identified as welfare recipients.

To mitigate these gaps, officials are allowed to file applications on behalf of individuals, but practical constraints remain. The Ulsan case, in which a father died along with his four children, underscores the difficulty. Although authorities encouraged him to apply for basic livelihood assistance, he did not respond. Even when officials seek to proceed on their own, they cannot do so without the individual’s consent to access financial data. As a result, only 0.1% of the 171,370 households newly receiving livelihood benefits last year were enrolled through such administrative action. The government estimates that more than 300,000 people fall into a category of “non-recipient poor,” unable to access support due to institutional barriers or limited engagement.

Addressing the limits of an application-based system requires a shift in perspective. Welfare should be regarded not as a state handout but as a right. Countries that established welfare systems earlier have strengthened their safety nets through proactive outreach. The United Kingdom recalculates integrated welfare benefits in real time using income data provided by employers. Belgium operates a “Crossroads Bank for Social Security” system that removes barriers to data sharing across agencies and grants eligibility automatically. In these systems, the state reaches out before households fall into crisis.

President Lee Jae-myung said at a meeting in August last year that an application-based welfare system is “a cruel system” and called for reforms so eligible individuals receive benefits automatically. Since then, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has pledged to expand support, including the use of artificial intelligence to identify at-risk households. It remains unclear how much these measures have reduced blind spots.

Reforming the application-based system alone will not complete the safety net. Strict eligibility criteria, including income thresholds, family support obligations and assessments of work capacity, continue to exclude many in need. The government’s pledge 12 years ago to prevent a repeat of the Songpa tragedy must now be honored.