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
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
RSS