From 2023, the chicken house owner also has employment insurance… Concerns about growing fund depletion

[이데일리 김소연 기자] The government is in full swing to promote the’National Employment Insurance’ in which all employed persons subscribe to employment insurance. The plan is to expand the social safety net by enrolling in employment insurance for all employed persons with a certain income or higher, including artists, special type workers (special experts), platform workers, and self-employed people. It is a policy that self-employed people will be applied in stages from 2023. However, due to the expansion of subscription targets and the spread of Corona 19, voices of concern about the depletion of the fund exceeding 8 trillion won in the employment insurance fund this year are growing.

Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jae-gap is giving a briefing on the’National Employment Insurance Roadmap’ at the Seoul Government Complex on the 23rd. Provided by the Ministry of Employment.

On the 23rd, Minister of Employment and Labor, Minister of Employment and Labor, said at a briefing on the’National Employment Insurance Roadmap’ held at the Seoul Government Complex, “In 2025, the number of employees in employment insurance will increase to 21 million, so that all working people will be protected by the employment safety net.”

If the nationwide employment insurance roadmap is promoted smoothly, the number of employment insurance subscribers, currently 14 million people, will increase to 17 million in 2022 and 21 million in 2025. This year’s artist and next July’s 14 special jobs are covered by the employment insurance.

The Ministry of Employment plans to include platform workers and other special experts in 2022, and some self-employed people in stages from 2023. In the case of self-employed people, the social dialogue organization in the first half of next year will discuss the method of membership, timing, and specific plans.

It was decided to make the identification of income transparent for the national employment insurance. In the future, when an employed person submits income information to the National Tax Service or the Social Insurance Service, the Labor Welfare Service identifies the tax payment information, selects the target, and guides and charges insurance premiums.

The financial soundness of the Employment Insurance Fund is an obstacle. With the spread of Corona 19 this year, expenditures such as job search benefits and employment maintenance subsidies are expected to increase sharply, resulting in a deficit of only 8 trillion won. The National Assembly Budget Office predicted that all reserves of the Employment Insurance Fund will be exhausted this year, and this year’s deficit is 3,2639 billion won, including borrowings from the Public Fund Management Fund (Public Investment Fund). Excluding the borrowings from the Confucius Fund, the deficit amounted to 7,938.9 billion won.

Next year, the Employment Insurance Fund is expected to produce a deficit of 3,321.5 billion won, excluding the borrowings from the Confucius Fund. The Confucius Fund is a fund prepared by the government to use public funds such as pensions and funds as public project funds.

Minister Lee said, “Some are concerned about the financial soundness of the fund in relation to the expansion of employment insurance coverage. We will try to maintain soundness by conducting fiscal estimates according to the expansion of the applicable targets.” He said, “The deficit is increasing due to the impact of Corona 19 this year, but once the crisis is overcome and the economy recovers, the fiscal deficit is expected to recover again.” He added, “We are pursuing fiscal soundness measures in the direction of reducing unnecessary expenditure in the employment insurance fund and increasing the share of general accounts.”

[이데일리 김정훈 기자]