Gyeonggi Province Establishes 6 Task Areas to Support Single-Person Households, Including Dignified Death Assistance

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hoon] Gyeonggi Province has established legal grounds to support single-person households in housing, health, and construction of social safety nets.

According to Gyeonggi Province on the 24th, the 'Gyeonggi Province Ordinance on the Promotion and Support of Social Integration for Single-Person Households' passed the 344th regular session on the same day and is scheduled to take effect on July 15 next month.

This ordinance stipulates matters related to welfare support and construction of social safety nets for single-person households. Under the ordinance, the provincial governor must establish and implement a 'Basic Plan for Support of Single-Person Households in Gyeonggi Province' every five years based on an actual conditions survey of single-person households.
Additionally, the province can promote and provide necessary budgets for housing, health, leisure, construction of social safety nets, and community activation projects for single-person households.
Gyeonggi Province stated that the significance of this ordinance lies in establishing grounds to implement comprehensive and systematic projects for single-person households in the province that could otherwise fall through policy gaps.

Going forward, the province plans to select detailed implementation tasks and secure related budgets in six areas for single-person households: ▲overcoming loneliness and isolation ▲improving communal dining culture ▲supporting self-reliance ▲health support ▲creating safe living environments ▲dignified death assistance. Full-scale business implementation is expected to begin next year.

Lee Byung-woo, Director of the Welfare Bureau of Gyeonggi Province, stated: "According to Statistics Korea data, single-person households in Gyeonggi Province account for 25.2% of all households, representing a significant proportion," adding "We expect this ordinance to serve as the first starting point for promoting welfare and building social safety nets for single-person households."