Welfare Solutions for Jobless Growth in the AI Era: Seoul Stepping Stone Income

SEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 26, 2025--

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced the overall outcomes of the three-year Seoul Stepping Stone Income Project (SSIP) at the Seoul International Forum on Stepping Stone Income 2025 (SIFSI 2025) on Tuesday, December 23. Alongside world-renowned economics and welfare scholars, the city government presented policy effectiveness evaluation and discussed the future direction of income security systems.

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Held at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in central Seoul, the forum featured a keynote speech by 2024 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, Professor James A. Robinson of the University of Chicago, followed by a special dialogue with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon. The program continued with a presentation on the SSIP’s third-year progress report, the results of in-depth research on its alignment with existing welfare programs, and a discussion on future income security systems focused on care-vulnerable groups.

In the keynote session titled “Inclusive Institutions: The Social Foundations for Sustainable Prosperity,” Professor Robinson emphasized the role of government in economic growth, distribution, and welfare. He pointed out that the Korean society requires a "new social contract" with improved asset distribution and the restoration of social mobility, moving beyond the mere expansion of welfare. He also asserted that Seoul Stepping Stone Income could serve as a vital policy link in the process of establishing the new social contract.

In the subsequent special dialogue, discussions focused on the government's role in responding to “jobless growth” driven by the advancement of AI. Professor Robinson noted that the world is currently underprepared for the social risks associated with the AI transition and stressed the need for full-scale discussion on the matter.

During Session 1, Professor Jungmin Lee of Seoul National University presented the “Seoul Stepping Stone Income Project: Third-Year Progress Report.” According to research, the average monthly income of participating households was KRW 250,000 higher than that of non-participating households. Furthermore, spending on essentials—such as transportation and groceries—increased, and both mental health and nutritional indices showed improvement. Conversely, while the labor supply of household heads decreased by an average of 11.4 percentage points, analysis indicated that the spare time was redirected into productivity-enhancing activities, including education, training, caregiving, and health and wellness. No significant reduction was observed in the labor supply of other household members.

In Session 2, researchers presented in-depth studies aimed at improving the implementation and alignment of the Stepping Stone Income with existing welfare programs. Topics included financing strategies, labor market impacts, integration with social services, and the potential for spatial expansion. The studies outlined mid-to-long-term fiscal requirement estimates, the necessity of parallel work incentives, the integration of social services to alleviate caregiving burdens, and unified or customized models for potential nationwide application.

Session 3 explored the proposition that care-vulnerable groups should be established as the core target of future income security systems. The researchers pointed out that existing systems do not sufficiently cover individuals with caregiving responsibilities within the working-age population. They suggested that in the new AI era, policy design must comprehensively offer support for both income and caregiving. Relevant international research shared during the session corroborated that income security has a positive impact on mental and physical health, housing and financial stability, and child education.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon stated, “Behind the bright prospects of the AI era lies the risk of jobless growth.” He added, "The Seoul Stepping Stone Income Project, which we have proactively pioneered over the last three years, serves as a crucial policy starting point to respond to these changes."

The Seoul International Forum on Stepping Stone Income 2025 (SIFSI 2025) evaluated policy effectiveness and explored the future direction of income security systems. (Image: Seoul Metropolitan Government)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend.

Zelenskyy told journalists that the two leaders will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine during Sunday's talks, and that the 20-point plan under discussion “is about 90% ready.”

An “economic agreement” also will be discussed, Zelenskyy said, but that he was unable to confirm “whether anything will be finalized by the end.”

The Ukrainian side will also raise "territorial issues", he said.

Zelenskyy said that Ukraine “would like the Europeans to be involved," but doubted whether it would be possible at short notice.

“We must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the U.S. are present, but Europe is represented as well,” he said.

The announced meeting is the latest development in an extensive U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war, but efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.

Zelenskyy's comments came after he said Thursday that he had a “good conversation” with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that the Kremlin had already been in contact with U.S. representatives since Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev recently met with U.S. envoys in Florida.

“It was agreed upon to continue the dialogue," he said.

Trump is engaged in a diplomatic push to end Russia's all-out war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.

Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he would be willing to withdraw troops from Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war, if Russia also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.

Though Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that there had been “slow but steady progress” in the peace talks, Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized.

In fact, Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas — an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk — the two areas that make up the Donbas.

On the ground, one person was killed and three others were wounded when a guided aerial bomb hit a house in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, while six people were wounded in a missile strike on the city of Uman, local officials said Friday.

Russian drone attacks on the city of Mykolaiv and its suburbs overnight into Friday left part of the city without power. Energy and port infrastructure were damaged by drones in the city of Odesa on the Black Sea.

Meanwhile, Ukraine said that it struck a major Russian oil refinery on Thursday using U.K.-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.

Ukraine’s General Staff said that its forces hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region.

“Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,” it wrote on Telegram.

Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said that a firefighter was wounded when extinguishing the fire.

Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants to cripple the Ukraine's power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to “weaponize winter.”

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a media conference at the EU Summit in Brussels, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)