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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Helen Sullivan

South Korea to give $490 allowance to reclusive youths to help them leave the house

A resident shines a torch from their apartment in Busan, South Korea.
A resident shines a torch from their apartment in Busan, South Korea. An estimated 350,000 South Koreans aged between 19 and 39 are lonely or secluded. Photograph: Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images

South Korea is to offer reclusive youths a monthly living allowance of 650,000 won ($490) in order to encourage them out of their homes, as part of a new measure passed by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. The measure also offers education, job and health support.

The condition is known as “hikikomori”, a Japanese term that roughly translated means, “to pull back”. The government wants to try to make it easier for those experiencing it to leave the house to go to school, university or work.

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