Who are the recipients of the second consumer coupon?
The specific distribution criteria for the 'second livelihood recovery consumer coupon,' which will be distributed to 90% of the citizens starting from the 22nd of next month, has been revealed.
The government is expected to finalize the recipients by excluding the top 10% of income earners and high net worth individuals.
On the 18th, Chosun Ilbo reported that a lawmaker from the National Assembly’s Planning and Finance Committee, Park Soo-young of the People Power Party, compiled responses from the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and others. The government has provisionally set the exclusion threshold for recipients at '210% of the median income standard.'
The median income standard represents the midpoint of national income and is used as a benchmark for various welfare payments.
Applying this standard, individuals from single-person households will be excluded from receiving the coupons if their monthly income exceeds 5.02 million KRW; for two-person households, the amount is 8.25 million KRW; for three-person households, it is 10.55 million KRW; and for four-person households, it is 12.80 million KRW.
This would mean approximately 5.06 million people, corresponding to the top 10% of income earners in the entire population, will be excluded from the coupon distribution.
Thorough income and asset checks
In addition to income, the government is also considering asset requirements. Homeowners with a combined property tax assessment of over 1.2 billion KRW or annual financial income (interest, dividends, etc.) exceeding 20 million KRW are likely to be classified as 'high net worth individuals' and excluded from receiving consumer coupons.
However, special criteria will be established for single-person households, which have a higher proportion of elderly and vulnerable individuals, as well as dual-income families burdened with educational expenses for children, to provide additional support.
Meanwhile, as of midnight on the 13th, the number of applicants for the 'first livelihood recovery consumer coupon' stood at approximately 48.93 million.
This figure accounts for 96.7% of the total 50.607 million eligible recipients, indicating that nearly all applications and distributions have been completed in less than a month since applications began on the 21st of last month. The total distribution amount is approximately 8.86 trillion KRW.
As for the status of payment methods, the number of applicants for credit and debit cards is 34.05 million, making up 69.6% of the total.
Image source: Reference photos for understanding the article / News1, News1
