The government provided NT$1.72 billion (US$52.12 million) in cash subsidies to help more than 900,000 children from impoverished families last year, including 1,354 victims of domestic violence, an increase in funds of 20 percent, tallies released by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics showed.
The government is providing living subsidies to young children and teenagers from households with low or middle incomes who meet social assistance criteria, including coming from single-parent families or being orphaned or having parents who are seriously ill or imprisoned for a term of more than one year, a report from the Ministry of Interior showed.
The standard annual subsidy to low income families was adjusted in all cities and counties in accordance with regulations on the minimum subsistence allowance, the report said.
In Taipei, children from low-income families are eligible to receive subsidies of NT$5,000 based on the minimal living standard amount of NT$14,000 as stipulated by the city government.
According to the tallies, 900,850 children and teenagers received government cash subsidies for low-income families last year, an increase of 9.2 percent year-on-year, the tallies showed.
Of these children, 882,508 were categorized as being of "Han" ethnicity, representing an increase of 9.4 percent from the previous year, while 18,342 were Aboriginal.
A total of 2,031 young children and adolescents were sent to foster families last year, 1,354 of whom were removed from their biological families because of domestic violence, the statistics showed.
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