This study presents criteria for evaluating the government's mid- to long-term strategy and society's ability to respond to future events. Moreover, a future response monitoring method based on empirical data is suggested.
The political importance of a social safety net will increase further as the future policy environment changes as a result of, for example, deepening inequality due to technological development and a greater income gap and polarization due to industrial structure transformation. Based on an analysis of income distribution and employment indicators to examine Korea's social safety net, Korea's disposable income inequality was found to be high due to low public social welfare expenditure, ,despite relatively low market income inequality. Income-centered national social insurance could thus become a new social safety net paradigm that responds to changes in the policy environment.
Demographic changes due to super-aging represent beneficial progress in terms of health but can act as a risk factor that threatens the sustainability of Korean society. An analysis of indicators such as healthy life expectancy, unmet medical care rates, and healthcare expenditure per capita confirmed that better integration of prevention and treatment is necessary to ensure the sustainability of healthcare finance.
As the number of foreign residents, such as workers and marriage migrants, increases, Korean society faces a multicultural era, so the importance of social integration needs to be emphasized. An examination of foreign immigrants, changes in worker inclusion, multicultural acceptability, and the migrant hospitality index revealed that the level of inclusiveness in Korea is low compared to international statistics, and the integrated index is lower than global average.
To further specify the monitoring plan, a future society response indicator system derived from the National Assembly Futures Institute was linked to the mid- to long-term plan evaluation, and a national-level future response monitoring plan was developed. This in turn led to a future vision, mid- to long-term plans, and related programs aimed at achieving a desirable image of the future Korean society. Through this, policies in the field of the government-provided childcare were examined. As women's participation in the labor market increased, the existing family care function at home was weakened and the demand for formal care increased; however, the socialization of childcare was evaluated as insufficient. Indices that can respond to the socialization of childcare in the future society are the acceptance rates of national and public daycare centers and the rate of use of infant care and early childhood education services. Monitoring was possible by linking the social response indicators to the mid- to long-term plans in the field of the socialization of childcare.
As future case study, a more balanced development policy should be monitored to assess the spatial inequality that is excessively concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area and large cities. The current future society response index simply looks at the data by dividing it into metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. It is therefore necessary to investigate more diverse types of data, such as small and medium-sized cities, rural areas, and fishing villages, and to establish and implement future strategies that are suitable for these regions.
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