South Korea will raise next year’s youth-related budget to 43.3 trillion won from 28.2 trillion won, a reported increase of 53.5% or 53.3%, under a life-cycle strategy covering employment, entrepreneurship, education, housing, savings, marriage and childbirth. President Lee Jae-myung presented the package at the Youth Budget Unboxing 2027 event at Cheong Wa Dae on Aug. 28, saying policies should reflect young people’s needs rather than government convenience and that outdated ideas about hardship and failure no longer fit a generation facing potentially irreversible debt. Measures include relaxed rent-support income limits, larger housing subsidies, expanded Future Savings, advanced-industry training for more than 300,000 young professionals by 2030, a 1 million won marriage grant and childbirth support of up to 20 million won from July 1, 2027. The childbirth plan has drawn criticism over its delayed eligibility date, regional preference and concerns that cash payments could increase childcare and postpartum-care costs.