South Korea will raise the monthly basic pension to 250,000 won ($219) in 2018 and to 300,000 won in 2021 in a bid to help buttress elderly people's income, the health ministry said Monday.
Under the basic pension system introduced in July 2014, the government pays 200,000 won a month to every senior citizen belonging to the bottom 70 percent of the country's income bracket. The inflation-adjusted amount of basic pension was set at 206,050 won for a single elderly household this year.
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(Yonhap) |
The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced an advanced legislation notice for a revised bill that is forecast to cover an additional 100,000 people who are older than 65 who need assistance.
The ministry said it plans to submit the revision to the National Assembly by October so that the basic pension will go up starting in April 2018 and again in April 2021.
The ministry forecast that the outlay associated with helping the country's elderly over the next five years will require 5.9 trillion won in extra funding annually. (Yonhap)
