A Study of the Effect of Utilizing Early Industry Retirees on the Young Internship Program

Abstract

Considering the high level of unemployment rate of the young labor forces and a large scale of early retirement being expected with the pattern of population aging of Korean society, this study aims to estimate how much benefits are expected by utilizing the early retiree of the industrial workforce in the current Young Internship Program which has been performed for encouraging the young labor force to get a job. The expected benefits of the newly suggested policy above are estimated as follows: firstly, with respect to the young unemployment cost savings, the long term earning loss due to the unemployment of the young is estimated from 730 to 800 million won per each worker during whole lifetime. So if 10% of the current 372,000 unemployed young labor forces find employment through this policy, the unemployment cost savings were estimated at about 28 trillion won. Secondly, when the early retirees defer their retirement age, additional amount of national pension premium was estimated at 1,200 billion won per year, which might represent that activating this policy will improve the financial soundness of the National Pension. In conclusion, based on the expected benefits of this newly suggested policy, such as the young unemployment cost savings, additional national pension premium revenue, the utilization of the early retiree with the Young Internship Program might be regarded as cost-effective one.