Page 139 - 2022 Taiwan Health and Welfare Report

Chapter 1 Social Assistance
We always follow the principle of "providing care actively, respecting needs, and enabling self-sufficiency" in social assistance business. Various measures are taken, laws and regulations are reviewed at regular intervals, and unemployment benefits and the welfare service system of social work are considered, so as to guarantee that people in need can get appropriate assistance.
▏Section 1 Living Support
Life assistance for low-income households
means providing persistent financial assistance for families whose monthly income per person is below the minimum living expenditure and whose properties do not exceed the annual amount announced by the central government or competent authorities of municipalities. The 2015 amendment to the "Public Assistance Act" stipulates that the living assistance for low-income families is adjusted every four years based on the growth in consumer price index (CPI) to protect the rights and interests of vulnerable people. Table 10-1 shows the minimum cost of living in each special municipality, Taiwan Province in the last seven years.
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Table 10-1
Minimum Cost of Living of Each Special Municipality, County, and City in the Last 7 Years
Source : Department of Social Assistance and Social Work, Ministry of Health and Welfare, R.O.C.(Taiwan)
The current subsidies provided by various local governments for low-income households include family subsidy, school subsidy, and children subsidy. According to Article 12 of the Public Assistance Act, competent authorities should increase the original cash amount received by members of low-income households who are elderly, pregnant for three months or longer, or disabled by no more than 40%. In order to avoid providing too much financial assistance, which could influence the willingness to work, Article 8 of the Public Assistance Act states that
the monthly assistance amount received by every person according to this law or other laws should not exceed the basic wage declared by the government. The major items of life assistance for low-income households handled by the government in 2021 are shown in Table 10-2.
Besides making cash payments, various local governments should provide additional benefits, including nutritional supplements to pregnant women (including nutrition subsidies for single mothers with newborns), birth
New Taiwan Dollar
Region Year
Taiwan
Taipei
Kaohsiung
New Taipei
Taichung
Tainan
Taoyuan
Fujian Province
Kinmen
Lienchiang
2016
11,448
15,162
12,485
12,840
13,084
11,448
13,692
10,290
2017
11,448
15,544
12,941
13,700
13,084
11,448
13,692
10,290
2018
12,388
16,157
12,941
14,385
13,813
12,388
13,692
11,135
2019
12,388
16,580
13,099
14,666
13,813
12,388
14,578
11,135
2020
12,388
17,005
13,099
15,500
14,596
12,388
15,281
11,648
2021
13,288
17,668
13,341
15,600
14,596
13,304
15,281
12,102
2022
14,230
18,682
14,419
15,800
15,472
14,230
15,281
12,792
137
Social Assistance and Social Work