Maizhu Prefecture announces the results of the "Double Account" program supporting youth asset formation

Jeollabuk-do’s Muan County, through the “Youth Growth Double Account Support Project,” which helps young people build assets, paid a total of 15.48 million won in congratulatory funds to 43 people who had reached the maturity date. Under the project, young people make regular monthly savings of a certain amount, and local governments add an equal amount, helping young people accumulate large sums of money, as a representative support policy to expand the foundation for youth settlement in sparsely populated areas.

According to Muan County, during the 36-month period, each beneficiary saves 100,000 won per month, for total accumulated savings of 3.6 million won. On top of this, the county government provides additional support of an equal amount of 3.6 million won, so that each person can receive a total of 7.2 million won when their savings reach maturity. This system is not simple cash support; rather, it provides matched funds to young people who save continuously for a certain period, with a strong dual role of both guiding the formation of savings habits and promoting asset accumulation.

The project is aimed at young people aged 18 to 49 residing in Muan County. Compared with youth in large cities, local youth often have relatively weak employment and residential foundations, and the problem of difficulty in raising initial funds has continued to draw attention. Therefore, local governments are showing a trend of shifting from purely welfare policies to asset-formation policies that expand the basis for stable living, and Muan County’s double account project can be seen as an extension of this trend.

The project’s outcomes have been partially validated. Between 2021 and 2023, a total of 150 people opened these accounts, and 140 of them received maturity benefits. This means that most people completed the agreed term without terminating early, indicating that the system genuinely aligns with young people’s need to reserve large amounts of funds. Against the backdrop of intensifying concerns about local decline, such support policies are also evaluated as effective ways to delay young people leaving their hometown and to ease early-life burdens such as those related to marriage, residence, and employment.

Muan County plans to invest 28.1 billion won this year to promote youth inflow and stabilize settlement, supporting projects such as housing costs for employed youth, housing funds for newlyweds, revitalizing youth policy activities, and youth vitality allowances. By combining savings support with housing and activity support, the aim is to broaden the coverage of youth policies. This trend may signal that, in the future, local governments will shift from one-time support to comprehensive youth policies that integrate asset formation, residential stability, and regional settlement.