Unemployment Benefits in 2026: Calculating the Daily Job-Seeking Allowance
In 2026 the daily job-seeking allowance is 60% of the base daily amount, capped at 68,100 won and floored at 66,048 won. The number of eligible days and the order of calculation, set out from the statute.
- unemployment benefits
- job-seeking allowance
- employment insurance
- calculation
As of September 24, 2026. This post is the order in which to calculate the job-seeking allowance for a worker covered by employment insurance. Employment insurance for artists, home workers and the self-employed has different periods and caps. For an individual case, 고용24 and the local employment center take precedence.
Who it applies to
People who have 180 or more days of insured period in total across the 18 months before leaving their job, who left involuntarily — layoff for business reasons, recommended resignation, contract expiry — and who are willing and able to work but cannot find a job. The first 7 days from the date you report unemployment are a waiting period, with no payment.
The formulas
- The base daily amount is the average wage before leaving, divided by a day. For those who left on or after January 1, 2026, the cap is 113,500 won.
- Daily job-seeking allowance = base daily amount × 60%.
- That daily amount is capped at 68,100 won and floored at 66,048 won.
- The number of days you can receive is the eligible period below. You must take all of them within 12 months from the day after you left; once the period passes, the remaining days are lost too.
The floor of 66,048 won is 80% of the 2026 hourly minimum wage of 10,320 won, times 8 hours. The comparison amounts over 30 days are a cap of 2,043,000 won and a floor of 1,981,440 won. Actual payment is per day recognized as unemployed, so a month is not always 30 days.
| Age on the day you left | Under 1 year | 1 to under 3 years | 3 to under 5 years | 5 to under 10 years | 10 years or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 50 | 120 days | 150 days | 180 days | 210 days | 240 days |
| 50 or older, or disabled | 120 days | 180 days | 210 days | 240 days | 270 days |
Under the Act on the Promotion of Employment of Persons with Disabilities and Vocational Rehabilitation, disability is counted as age 50 or above.
Examples
If the base daily amount calculated from your average wage is 150,000 won, 60% is 90,000 won. That exceeds the cap of 68,100 won, so the daily amount is 68,100 won. At 45 years old with 6 years of insurance, the eligible period is 210 days. The comparison total is 68,100 × 210 = 14,301,000 won.
If the base daily amount is 80,000 won, 60% is 48,000 won. That is below the floor of 66,048 won, so the daily amount is 66,048 won.
Sources
Articles 46, 48, 49 and 50 and Attached Table 1 of the Employment Insurance Act. The cap on the job-seeking allowance comes from a decree amendment passed through the State Council in December 2025, setting the daily cap at 68,100 won for those leaving on or after January 1, 2026. The minimum wage is from Ministry of Employment and Labor Notice No. 2025-47.