Changes in Local Welfare Programs Under the Latest Prior-Consultation Directions for Social Security Projects

Abstract

The Social Security Committee in October 2023 adopted “enhancing welfare for the weak” and “systematizing social services” as basic directions for the prior-consultation scheme. This article examines the changing features of social security projects placed under prior consultation by comparing the six months preceding the announcement of the new policy paradigm with the six months following. Since the announcement, the number of cash benefit programs subjected to prior consultation has decreased, whereas programs focusing on ‘welfare for the weak’ and ‘social services’ have increased. While such shifts may have resulted from the implementation of the new policy paradigm, a thorough analysis of these changes requires detailed data on the prior-consultation process. To build confidence in the prior-consultation scheme as a policy tool, it is essential to educate and support local officials in designing social security projects and to systematize the procedures involved in the scheme. These steps should lead to a well-informed analysis of shifts in the prior-consultation policy after the Social Security Committee’s new policy paradigm.