The number of low-income households nationwide hit a record high in the third quarter, with the individual members of such households accounting for 1.08 percent of the total population, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) said yesterday.
A ministry survey found the number of low-income households in the third quarter stood at 102,759, compared with 90,525 in the same period last year and almost double the number 10 years ago when there were only 58,310.
The figure represented 249,834 people, or 1.08 percent of the population, an increase of 32,434 people compared with last year, the ministry said. A decade ago, the number of individuals in low-income households was 136,691, it said.
Huang Pi-hsia (黃碧霞), director-general of the ministry’s Department of Social Affairs, said that the number of low-income families has been gradually increasing over the past several years.
“This trend is the result of the economic downturn and the fact that the government has relaxed the eligibility requirements to allow subsidies for more people,” she said.
The ministry has invited local governments, academics and experts to revise the Social Assistance Act (社會救助法) to reset the poverty line, set up an overall structure to help mid and low-income families, and strengthen measures to fight poverty, Huang said.
The Act defines low-income families as those whose total income divided by the number of its members is lower than the minimum cost of living.
The minimum cost of living is computed as 60 percent of the most recent annual consumption expenditure per capita announced by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.
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