The Council of Labor Affairs yesterday said a record number of people received unemployment benefits last month, with payouts reaching NT$2 billion (US$59 million).
The council approved 116,633 applicants for unemployment subsidies last month.
The number of people on welfare and the total amount of unemployment subsidies are at their highest levels since the government launched the benefits in 1999, Council of Labor Affairs Minister Jennifer Wang (王如玄) said.
The demand for jobless claims started to spike in the fourth quarter of last year and the trend continued into this year,” a Bureau of Labour Insurance spokeswoman said.
The number of new claimants who have lost their jobs has exceeded 30,000 per month since last December, while the country’s jobless rate soared to a 31-year high of 5.31 percent in January, the council said.
Wang said the period of eligibility for unemployment benefits had been extended from six months to nine months for the middle-aged and elderly, as well as for handicapped workers.
When asked whether this would be extended to all those who are involuntarily unemployed, Wang said that the unemployment cycle was 26.1 weeks and the council would monitor the situation.
Meanwhile, Wang said the council had sufficient funds to finance the subsidies as the Unemployment Insurance Fund contains NT$105 billion, with an additional projected annual infusion of NT$20 billion.
In response, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators called for the government to extend unemployment subsidies to one year.
“President Ma Ying-jeou [馬英九] promised an amendment to the Employment Insurance Act [就業保險法] during his campaign to extend unemployment subsidies from six months to one year and he should not break that promise,” DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-ching (葉宜津) told a press conference yesterday.
DPP Legislator Chen Chieh-ju (陳節如) said the proposed extension from six months to nine months was unsatisfactory.
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to tighten rules for candidates running for public office, requiring them to declare that they do not hold a Chinese household registration or passport, and that they possess no other foreign citizenship. The requirement was set out in a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法 ) released by the ministry on Thursday. Under the proposal, candidates would need to make the declaration when submitting their registration forms, which would be published in the official election bulletin. The move follows the removal of several elected officials who were
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
SENATE RECOMMENDATION: The National Defense Authorization Act encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s navy to participate in the exercises in Hawaii The US Senate on Thursday last week passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, which strongly encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s naval forces to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, as well as allocating military aid of US$1 billion for Taiwan. The bill, which authorizes appropriations for the military activities of the US Department of Defense, military construction and other purposes, passed with 77 votes in support and 20 against. While the NDAA authorizes about US$925 billion of defense spending, the Central News Agency yesterday reported that an aide of US
NATIONAL DAY: The ‘Taiwan Dome’ would form the centerpiece of new efforts to bolster air defense and be modeled after Israel’s ‘Iron Dome,’ sources said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday pledged to strengthen the nation’s air defense capabilities and build a “T-Dome” system to create a safety net against growing military threats from China. “We will accelerate our building of the T-Dome, establish a rigorous air defense system in Taiwan with multi-layered defense, high-level detection and effective interception, and weave a safety net for Taiwan to protect the lives and property of citizens,” he said in his National Day address. In his keynote address marking the Republic of China’s (ROC) 114th anniversary, Lai said the lessons of World War II have taught nations worldwide “to ensure that