In the week after the new fiscal year began, five local governments confirmed their youth policies for this year. On March 5, the city of Bucheon held its first Youth Policy Committee meeting in the city hall's Nanum Room and deliberated and approved an implementation plan covering 67 programs across five strategies, worth 35.746 billion won. The same day, Seocho-gu announced an implementation plan made up of 38 programs in four areas, and the city of Ulsan presented its youth-sector program plan in the city hall's main conference room. Earlier, on February 27, the city of Gwacheon approved 34 programs in five areas.
Set the plans side by side and the designs look alike. They divide the areas into jobs, housing, education and finance, welfare and culture, and participation and rights, and place programs underneath. The departments involved also span multiple bureaus and divisions, 9 in Gwacheon and 11 in Seocho. Seocho-gu drew up a five-year comprehensive plan in 2024 and has produced an implementation plan every year since.
Comparison itself does not work well. The standard for counting programs differs from one local government to another. Bucheon's 67 and Gwacheon's 34 are hard to place on the same scale, and the "some 50 kinds" cited by the city of Yongin is a figure Mayor Lee Sang-il gave in an interview. The city of Ulsan changed the very method of counting programs, introducing this year a generation-by-generation package format matched to life stages in place of listing individual programs.
Bucheon is the only city that put out a total figure by which the scale can be gauged. For the other four, the total budget was not included in the plan announcements. The number of programs alone does not show how much reaches a single young person.
Look into the contents and the texture of the support diverges. The city of Ulsan said it will cover 80% of dormitory rent for young people working at small and medium-sized enterprises and will create 664 units at 14 youth-type U-Home sites. It also listed items with amounts attached, such as up to 100,000 won a year for generative AI subscriptions, up to 500,000 won in Super Pass vouchers for those in employment, and up to 100,000 won a year for a sports and culture pass. Seocho-gu's housing program is "Youth Housing Iroom," a tailored counseling service arranged under agreements with LH and SH.
Designs aimed at people also stand out. Seocho-gu newly added the "Reconnect Project," which helps isolated and reclusive young people return to society, and Bucheon put a young carer governance network and a housing environment improvement program for youth households among its 23 new programs. This is the story of young people pushed out of school and work while caring for sick family members, and young people who could not leave their rooms, gaining a name in a planning document. The city of Gwacheon newly created a "youth participatory budget program" in which young people decide directly where the budget is spent.
Efforts not to leave young people outside the plans continue as well. On February 27, the city of Yongin handed letters of appointment to 45 young people as a publicity press corps, and the city of Gwacheon appointed 8 new and reappointed members to its Youth Policy Committee. Bucheon's committee approved the plan with 11 of its 20 members present. Seocho-gu's "Youth Popcorn," a talent pool for participation in district administration, received a Minister of the Interior and Safety Award last year.
The plans are set, and now execution remains. Seocho-gu expects about 8,000 young people to be covered by this year's programs, roughly 500 more than last year. The city of Ulsan will continue announcements at weekly intervals, beginning with the women's sector on March 9. Whether counseling desks turn into contracts and vouchers into rent receipts will become clear in the year-end settlement.
