The Cabinet yesterday approved a proposal to extend by six months a monthly stipend granted to families living near the poverty line and ease the qualifications to allow more families to benefit from the plan.
Since October, the government has granted monthly subsidies of between NT$3,000 and NT$6,000 to 228,000 people who meet the following conditions: that he or she is the sole breadwinner, earning less than NT$300,000 per annum; his or her family is not included in other welfare programs; he or she was a member of either the labor insurance or the employment insurance program for six consecutive months from January to June last year; and his or her real estate holding is valued at less than NT$3.9 million (US$111,000).
The proposal was approved at a Cabinet meeting called by Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄), citing continuing economic hardship.
Cabinet Spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) quoted Liu as saying that the government would revise the original subsidy program to allow more people who have been affected by the rising wave of unemployment or forced to take unpaid leave because of the global financial crisis to benefit.
For the second stage of the plan, which will be implemented from next month through December, Su said the requirement that only people who joined the labor insurance or employment insurance program for six consecutive months last year would be dropped.
The other conditions covering annual income and the value of real estate holdings will remain, Su said.
The changes are expected to raise the number of beneficiaries to 360,000 people, the Cabinet said.
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