The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) is organizing various support programs at single-person household support centers to provide welfare services, such as coordinating cultural and leisure activities as well as facilitating social gatherings.

Single-person household support centers will offer a total of 157 programs tailored to different age groups and locality from June to August this year, which will proceed in accordance with the changed COVID-19 protocols, such as the lifting of social distancing.

The city is focusing its efforts to forming and maintaining social networks of single-person households, which have become more prone to social disconnection due to the recent decline in social relationships following the cultural shift with the widespread trend of mediated communication and solitary lifestyle.

As single-person households have diverse needs and interests according to age, gender, income, and lifestyle, the city is continuing to discover areas that meet the characteristics and needs of single-person households and develop tailored support programs, focusing especially on addressing issues such as their physical and mental health as well as safety.

Of the programs offered at the single-person household support centers, the tailored programs will focus on assisting single-person households by giving them various opportunities to continuously participate in counseling and meetings. Applications are open to any Seoul-based (i.e. residence, school, workplace) single-person household.

Seoul hopes for the single-person household support centers to encourage active participation and satisfy the much needed desire for single-person households to social network in this post-pandemic era.