[사설] Are there any holes in the nationwide employment insurance roadmap, are there any realities?

On the 23rd, the government announced a roadmap for all national employment insurance subscriptions by 2025. The main content is to expand the employment insurance to platform workers and self-employed as well as special types of workers (special advisors) by grasping the monthly income of all the people. Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister of Economy and Minister of Strategy and Finance, said at a meeting of related ministers that “by 2025, we will increase the number of employees covered by employment insurance by about 7.33 million compared to last year, and convert wage-worker-centered employment insurance into an income-based whole national employment insurance system.” Accordingly, starting from the 10th of this month, it is expected that the participation will be expanded in the order of 14 specially hired workers, platform workers, and self-employed workers, such as insurance planners and learning branch teachers, who are eligible for employment insurance, starting from the 10th of this month.

The entire national employment insurance is the direction to go in that it strengthens the social safety net. The need for employment has increased as employment insecurity is increasing due to the COVID-19 outbreak. However, when looking at the roadmap that the government has put out, there are many parts that are not realistic. By changing the employment insurance subscription standard from working hours to more than a certain amount of income, blind spots are reduced, but there is a loophole that if income is deliberately omitted, its effectiveness is reduced. Among the artists and some specialty workers, many do not want their income to be revealed. When platform workers have contracts with multiple businesses, it is unclear how to share insurance premiums for each business operator. In addition, there is a problem that low-income people still remain in the blind spot if targets are selected only by income.

Most worrisome is the fact that the number of subscribers can threaten financial soundness. The government is optimistic that the number of people who pay insurance premiums will increase and maintain a surplus. However, if the unemployed increases rapidly due to unexpected events such as the spread of Corona 19, the employment insurance fund could run out. In particular, if the number of targets is expanded to self-employed, the possibility of fund depletion during a recession is higher. There will also be an increase in unemployment benefits expedient or unfair receipt. In the end, in order to maintain fiscal soundness, it is inevitable to raise the premium rate, but social agreement must be premised. It is difficult for a policy to succeed only with justification and motivation. For the entire National Employment Insurance, a more realistic roadmap should come out.
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