The Presidential Council for Future and Vision said Monday (Mar. 23) it would drive forward a “Human New Deal” in earnest, with the cooperation of relevant organizations, including the Small and Medium Business Administration and the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs.
The so-called “Human New Deal” is meant for the continued expansion of the social safety net and strengthening the middle income class, the council explained.

The government early this year announced the Green New Deal, which is expected to rescue the faltering economy and create more jobs at the same time. Fifty trillion won was allotted for the policy project.

The two new deals will be the main axes of Lee''s policy administration, the council official said.
 

"The world economy is suffering from the break-up of the middle class, and this class bolstering is most essential in surmounting the financial crisis at an early date and in helping the national economy''s leap forward in the post-crisis era," the council explained about the introduction of the Human New Deal.

The council said the human new deal will help the nation lift its ability to combat crises through human resources development, and stabilize household economies by providing people with work and compensation.

Through the Human New Deal, the government will firstly prevent those from the middle class from falling into lower income brackets by diversifying sources of income and lowering residential, education and medical expenses.

Secondly, the government will push low-income earners to advance into the middle class by providing future-oriented vocational training and encouraging the start-up of enterprises in every social sector.

Thirdly, the government will help the underprivileged classes terminate poverty inheritance. For that, the government will lessen their financial burden for private education by enhancing the standards of public education. It will also raise welfare, childrearing and educational budgets for the lowest income earners.

The government will push ahead with the Human New Deal with the Council for Future and Vision as its headquarters.

Jason Bordoff, a policy director of the U.S. Brookings Institution, was present at the council meeting, along with Korea''s finance, welfare, science, labor, and culture ministers. Bordoff said that the United States is also trying hard to bolster the middle income class to overcome the financial crisis. The Korean government''s Human New Deal is very timely, he added.