Forum on Seoul income initiative to take place on Oct. 7

The Seoul city government will hold an international forum on its Stepping Stone Income welfare initiative at Dongdaemun Design Plaza on Oct. 7, marking the program's third-year run.

Under the theme, “Solutions for Alleviating Poverty and Income Disparity,” the city government said its forum would bring together experts in economics, social welfare and sociology to discuss the city’s income support system and its results.

The city’s Stepping Stone Income, or Didimdol Sodeuk in Korean, is a selective welfare program that provides differentiated cash payments based on household income for households earning less than 85 percent of the median income.

Originally called the “Safety Income” scheme, the Stepping Stone Income is a pilot project launched by the city government in July 2022.

During the forum, a keynote speech will be delivered by Lucas Chancel, the co-director of World Inequality Lab and an associate professor of economics at the Paris School of Economics.

According to the city government, Chancel, famous for his book “Unsustainable Inequalities: Social Justice and the Environment,” also delivered a speech on wealth inequality and taxation at the World Economic Forum in January 2024.

Following the keynote speech, a special session will also take place featuring Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and sociology professor David B. Grusky from Stanford University, where speakers will further discuss the city government’s second-year annual report of the Seoul Stepping Stone Income Project.

Grusky, whose area of expertise is also centered on income security, studied inequality for over 20 years. According to the city government, Grusky is also the director of the Center on Poverty and Inequality at Stanford University and is known for his book “Inequality in the 21st Century.”

The office added that Elizabeth Rhodes, the research director for OpenResearch’s research project on universal basic income, will also deliver a speech during the city government’s event. Coined the Sam Altman Basic Income Project, Rhodes’ basic income experiment is backed by OpenAI CEO and Founder Sam Altman and tests the impact of monthly payments to low-income individuals.

Three international speakers will also present examples of the income security systems taking place in the United States, the United Kingdom and Finland. The speeches will be delivered by professor H. Luke Shaefer from the University of Michigan, deputy director Robert Joyce from Alma Economics in the UK, and research professor Pasi Moisio from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare.