The Seoul Metropolitan Youth Center (SMYC) has published six research reports verifying the effectiveness of Seoul's 2025 youth policies and presenting directions for future development. The research covers core youth policy agendas, including mental health support programs (2 reports), the Youth Stipend (1), youth policy delivery systems (1), issue research (1), and social impact measurement (1).

In the first such social impact measurement conducted this year, Seoul Youth Centers were found to have generated approximately 108 billion won in social value through policy dissemination and connectivity—5.02 times the budget invested. This quantitatively demonstrates that youth centers are delivering results as community-based hubs that reduce the time young people spend searching for policies and strengthen social resilience.

Analysis of 2025 Youth Stipend participants found that the program effectively functions as a safety net reducing economic anxiety among young people. Recipients, unlike non-recipients, showed lower dependence on short-term survival employment (41.0%), allowing more time for focused job searching and leading to shorter periods of unemployment. Significantly, the perception of receiving social support rose sharply (33.9% → 46.7%), improving overall trust in public policy.

A performance evaluation of the mental health support program found that following counseling, participants showed meaningful improvements in self-esteem (62.0 → 69.9) and resilience (58.7 → 66.4), while negative emotions, including depression (54.2 → 44.2) and anxiety (52.6 → 43.3) declined. Notably, a newly introduced analysis of "readiness to achieve life goals" revealed high readiness for change in the areas of emotional health (92.8%) and self-management (88.8%), confirming that psychological support is expanding into genuine motivation for life change.

The study on "Advancing Seoul's Youth Policy Delivery System" proposed structural improvements to enable Seoul Youth Centers to function as genuine policy hubs rather than simple information channels. By analyzing the operating environments of centers across individual districts, the research proposed redesigning a "broad-based delivery system" that organically connects currently fragmented functions and service tiers. It also developed concrete models for collaboration with related institutions within each community to maximize the efficiency of policy delivery.

The newly launched "Seoul Youth Issue Research," distinctive among existing studies in that young people themselves—not professional researchers—served as investigators examining issues closely tied to their own lives. Fifteen youth researchers participated, identifying six key agendas, including young people not attending university, socially withdrawn youth, victims of rental fraud, and youth with hearing disabilities. Drawing on firsthand experience, the report presents practical alternatives to address gaps in policy coverage.

SMYC Director Shin So-mi commented: "These six research reports definitively show how young people's lives have concretely changed through policy. We will continue to provide practical support for sustainable Seoul youth policy grounded in objective data."

All six reports are available on the Seoul Metropolitan Youth Center website (KOR only). The SMYC launched in 2024 through the merger of the "Seoul Metropolitan Government Youth Activity Support Center" and the "Youth Hub." Through customized programs like the Youth Stipend, Seoul Youth Mental Health Support Program and youth social safety net initiatives, it seeks to address the diverse needs of young people. The SMYC serves as the control tower for 16 local youth centers, overseeing performance management and professional staff development.

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(SMYC press release translated by AI, edited by David Kendall)