The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved an amendment to the Act on Assisting Women and Families in Dire Conditions (特殊境遇婦女家庭扶助條例) that gives single fathers subsidies that were once only granted to women in need.
Lawmakers agreed to change the title of the bill to the Act on Assisting Families in Dire Condition (特殊境遇家庭扶助條例), allowing a single parent under the age of 65; victims of domestic violence; pregnant, unmarried women; or anyone raising a minor alone to apply for educational and medical stipends for their children or grandchildren.
Children from such families only have to cover 40 percent of their high school or college tuition, the act says.
Local governments should send personnel to inspect the living conditions of the families that apply for the subsidies and should stop the stipend if their living standard improves, the act states.
Legislators also agreed that the Executive Yuan should implement the new measures within three months after the act takes effect.
After the amendment cleared the legislative floor, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英), one of the advocates of the bill, described the amendment as “pragmatic and advanced.”
“Along with the social changes in recent years, we have seen more and more single fathers who are in need,” she said.
DPP Legislator William Lai (賴清德) said with the amendment, the government should take the initiative in assisting families who are experiencing economic difficulties.
In related developments, legislators also approved an amendment to the Labor Insurance Regulations (勞工保險條例), allowing women to apply for subsidies if they give birth within one year of leaving their jobs.
In other developments, the pan-blue-dominated legislature voted in favor of lowering the inheritance tax and gift tax to 10 percent from the previous 50 percent.
The legislature approved an amendment to the Estate and Gift Tax Act (遺產及贈與稅法) proposed by the Executive Yuan, raising the deductible amount in the inheritance tax from NT$7 million (US$210,600) to NT$12 million.
Legislators also passed an amendment to the Act for Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Diseases (動物傳染病防治條例), authorizing inspectors at ports or airports to examine animals, animal products and product packages suspected of carrying infectious diseases even if the owners of the animals, products or packages refused to be examined.
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
Aftershocks from a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck off Yilan County at 3:45pm yesterday could reach a magnitude of 5 to 5.5, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Seismological Center technical officer Chiu Chun-ta (邱俊達) told a news conference that the epicenter of the temblor was more than 100km from Taiwan. Although predicted to measure between magnitude 5 and 5.5, the aftershocks would reach an intensity of 1 on Taiwan’s 7-tier scale, which gauges the actual effect of an earthquake, he said. The earthquake lasted longer in Taipei because the city is in a basin, he said. The quake’s epicenter was about 128.9km east-southeast
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
STAY VIGILANT: People should reduce the risk of chronic liver inflammation by avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and eating pickled foods, the physician said A doctor last week urged people to look for five key warning signs of acute liver failure after popular producer-turned-entertainer Shen Yu-lin (沈玉琳) was reportedly admitted to an intensive care unit for fulminant hepatitis. Fulminant hepatitis is the rapid and massive death of liver cells, impairing the organ’s detoxification, metabolic, protein synthesis and bile production functions, which if left untreated has a mortality rate as high as 80 percent, according to the Web site of Advancing Clinical Treatment of Liver Disease, an international organization focused on liver disease prevention and treatment. People with hepatitis B or C are at higher risk of
RSS