Central govt launches drive to identify, help low-income families

The central government will further optimize the identification of low-income families to help relieve their problems and secure them a better livelihood.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs recently released a notice, requiring governments at all levels to enhance their assistance to people or households with low incomes by improving the group's identification work.

Local civil affairs bureaus are required to identify low-income people or family by using big data or paying door-to-door visit, and the identification work should be based on the applicant's actual living condition and incomes. Applicants' privacy should be protected and their quality of receiving government's assistance should also be strictly reviewed.

Under the notice, the local authorities should perform dynamic monitoring and management of the low-income people or families to closely follow their demands or expenditures due to healthcare, education or disability.

Promotion work should be improved to let more people know the standards of applying government's assistance. Also, grassroots Party organizations can help guide low-income people to get themselves out of living difficulties by landing jobs.

The ministry defines the low-income people as those drawing government's minimum living allowances, or having risks of returning poverty, or those living in severe hardship due to fixed expenditures.

Usually, people with their annual income less than 10,000 yuan ($1,386) or 15,000 yuan are classified as low-income people, except for those in provinces or cities with more prosperous economy such as Beijing and Shanghai.

Definition of low-income families varies from area to area, but normally referring to the families whose per capita disposable income is lower than that of the local people in the previous year.