The South Korean government is trying to encourage isolated young people to “re-enter society” by offering to pay them a monthly stipend. The number of young recluses in the country is of grave concern to South Korean leaders amid other issues plaguing the population.

South Korea’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced that it would give up to 650,000 Korean won (about $500) monthly to reclusive young people between the ages of 9 and 24 to support their “psychological and emotional stability and healthy growth,” CNN recounts.

In a report, the ministry estimates that around 3.1 percent of Koreans aged 19 to 39 are “reclusive lonely young people,” citing data from the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. “That makes up about 338,000 people across the country, with 40 percent beginning their isolation in adolescence, according to the ministry,” CNN summarizes.  The group was defined as living in “limited space, in a state of being disconnected from the outside for more than a certain period of time, and have noticeable difficulty in living a normal life,” per the ministry’s report.

“Reclusive youths can have slower physical growth due to irregular living and unbalanced nutrition, and are likely to face mental difficulties such as depression due to loss of social roles and delayed adaptation,” the ministry said.

Read more: The Week