The government is to offer a one-time payment of NT$10,000 to workers not covered by social insurance programs, as well as farmers and fishers who do not qualify for other forms of financial aid, to mitigate the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday.
Among those eligible are an estimated 340,000 people who work, but are not enrolled in labor insurance, farmers’ insurance, or any other social insurance program and have a household income of 1.5 to two times the average minimum living cost in their city or county, Su said.
They include people who hold advertisement placards outdoors, street vendors and small-scale self-employed people, he said, adding that they would have access to the funds from Monday next week.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Under a previous version of the program, those with a household income of less than 1.5 times the average minimum living cost in their city or county were eligible for a one-time payment of NT$30,000.
In addition to the 340,000 eligible people, about 1.4 million farmers and fishers who make less than NT$500,000 annually and do not qualify for the NT$30,000 grant can apply for the NT$10,000 grant starting on Monday next week, Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Chi-chung (陳吉仲) said.
About 150,000 fishers who have labor insurance and have a monthly salary of less than NT$24,000 and an annual income of less than NT$400,000 are eligible for a one-time payment of NT$30,000, Chen said.
However, none of Taiwan’s more than 1 million farmers qualify for that payment, he added.
Farmers and about 200,000 fishers who have farmers’ insurance or no insurance may apply for the NT$10,000 payment instead, Chen said.
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