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- A scene from MBC News |
“I am grateful to the people who shared their heartwarming care with my family, when we had to search for food. But in order to solve this problem, we need to work together to build a society where people can survive on the basic livelihood grant.”
Since December 14, when MBC News Desk covered the story of citizens, the police and a supermarket owner who reached out to help a father and son living on the government’s basic livelihood grant, caught after stealing milk and apples from the supermarket out of hunger, their stories have lit up the Internet.
However, the incident clearly showed problems with our basic livelihood grant, which is far from realistic, unable to provide ample food for the father and son, driving them to starve and eventually steal food.
At present, the maximum basic livelihood grant for a single-person household is 510,000 won, and slightly over 1.1 million won for a three-person household.
According to the government, the basic livelihood grant is supposed to cover the minimum costs necessary to maintain a healthy and cultural life, but people claim that the grant is, in reality, the cost of survival, barely escaping death, for a month.
The Korean People’s Solidarity Against Poverty said, “The basic livelihood grant is handed out on the 20thof every month, but when the people pay for utilities and communications, they have to spend about half of the month surviving a ‘barley hump (referring to the hungry springtime when farmers ran out of crops before the summer’s barley harvest in pre-economic development days).’ With still a week left until the next grant, they (the father and son who stole food from the supermarket) would have had to go looking for food.”
The life of the elderly who also rely on the basic livelihood grant is no different. On December 13, Hong Rak-pyo (71) sent a letter to the civic group, My Welfare State and wrote, “Mr. President, Mr. Lawmaker, and Minister of Health and Welfare, will you try living a month on 510,000 won as the head of a single-person household?”
Hong receives a basic pension of 300,000 won every month on the 25th, but this is recognized as “income” and the amount is slashed from his basic livelihood grant the following month.
Thus, Hong has to survive a month on a total of 510,000 won: basic pension of 300,000 won and a livelihood grant of 210,000 won.
The parliamentary Health and Welfare Committee discussed measures to provide at least 100,000 won of the “basic pension that the nation handed out before retrieving it again,” but the plan failed to pass in the National Assembly.
Hong said, “I get by every day as a human vegetable. If you take away the cost of heating, communications, and the minimum cost of food, I don’t have any money to meet people.” He added, “That’s why old people on the basic livelihood grant wander through the streets picking up empty boxes trying to earn some thousands of won, which isn’t recognized as ‘income.’ They are struggling to survive.”
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