The National Assembly Budget Office evaluated welfare programs for the disabled, with a focus on the disability allowance, pension, and activity support measures. The total allocated budget for these programs in 2016 stands at KRW 1,901.1 billion, and some 70% of this will fund the allowance, pension, and activity support service for the disabled.

  According to the analysis on the poverty mitigation effect of the disability allowance and pension, their performance has worsened in 2014 compared to 2011 in terms of helping the households with disabled members of grades 3 and 4-6 approach the poverty line, i.e. narrowing the poverty gap. Therefore, the Ministry of Health and Welfare needs to determine an appropriate level of the disability allowance and pension based on a systematic survey on income loss and the additional costs incurred by disabilities, thus improving the adequacy of the benefits in tandem with the severity of the disabilities.

  Following the revision of the National Basic Livelihood Security Scheme, the criteria for the recipients of livelihood benefits and the second-lowest income bracket were changed. However, the beneficiary conditions for the disability allowance and the related budget have not reflected these changes. It is necessary for the Ministry of Health and Welfare to amend the Act on the Welfare of Persons with Disabilities and allocate a supplementary budget of some KRW 4.3 billion to accommodate additional recipients due to the revised criteria for the second-lowest income bracket.

  Furthermore, the operating expenses of the institutions that support activities of the disabled have not increased in proportion to the expansion of related programs, and their labor costs and financial sources differ by type. Therefore, the current payment system for the operation and labor costs of these institutions needs to be revisited. As an alternative, the Ministry of Health and Welfare could provide guidelines for the qualifications and the size of the essential labor force of these institutions and apply flat rates for their labor and operating costs.