Concluding a one-year investigation into Taiwan's social-welfare system, the Control Yuan last month issued a report recommending major reforms be implemented.
In the report, Control Yuan members called for an enhanced government bureau to integrate and coordinate social-welfare resources and their allocation.
The report said the nation's social-welfare expenditure exceeded national defense spending for the first time ever last year, accounting for 18.08 percent of the central government's annual spending.
But the report, written by Control Yuan members Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄), Chao Chang-pin (趙昌平) and Leu Hsi-muh (呂溪木), said that: "The budget allocation and execution through 14 different government departments is too dispersed, and the lack of a comprehensive plan to develop social-welfare policies has resulted in unfairness in social-welfare allocations."
The report said that the Ministry of the Interior's Social Affairs Department -- the highest government bureau dealing with social-welfare issues -- "could not effectively coordinate with other ministries concerning social-welfare policies because it was too low in the hierarchy."
To rectify this shortcoming, the Control Yuan suggested that the social-welfare department be promoted to a higher level within the bureaucracy.
The report also criticized the current criteria governing who is eligible to receive social-relief funds as too strict, and that "comprehensively tackling poverty was thus impossible."
"Compared to other countries, families classified as low-income households in Taiwan represent just a tiny fraction of the nation. Just 0.7 percent of the population falls into this category, and a lot of genuinely poor families are excluded from benefitting from the system," the report said.
The report suggested the Executive Yuan relax the criteria so that more low-income families can receive help.
Control Yuan members also voiced their concerns about the financial state of the social-security system, which, at the end of 2000, was NT$18.887 billion in debt, primarily due to a lack of payments from the the Taipei and Kaohsiung city governments.
"This behavior is in violation of the law, and is a poor example for local governments to set," the report said. The authors urged the Executive Yuan to find solutions to the problem by forcing the provincial and local governments to reimburse the National Health Insurance Program.
Huang, Chao, and Leu started to examine Taiwan's social-welfare system in 2000, and completed their investigation within 14 months. They said they had conducted dozens of interviews covering 274 relevant officials and scholars in order to get what they termed the "big picture" of the present system.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS