The “eight plus one” benefits are to be boosted by 7 percent in response to inflation, the Cabinet said yesterday as it announced its latest cost-of-living adjustments to social welfare programs.
Next year’s welfare programs would benefit 3.806 million Taiwanese with an estimated total cost of NT$131.38 billion (US$4.12 billion), officials said.
The expected adjustments are based on the estimated consumer price index growth for this year, Executive Yuan spokesman Lin Tze-luen (林子倫) told a news conference in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
The exact adjustments would be determined when the actual inflation rate is tallied in January next year, Lin said.
The “eight plus one” benefits refers to payments for elderly farmers and other disadvantaged groups, Lin said.
The benefits for elderly farmers are to increase to NT$8,080 per month, up from NT$7,550, he said.
Members of low-income households would receive monthly living stipends of NT$2,306 to NT$18,195, up from NT$2,155 to NT$17,700, he said.
People with mental or physical disabilities would receive monthly living stipends of NT$4,036, NT$5,420 or NT$9,455 depending on the severity of their impairments, up from NT$3,772, NT$5,065 and NT$8,836, he said.
Elderly people in middle-to-low-income households would receive NT$4,151 or NT$8,302 per month depending on their circumstances, up from NT$3,879 or NT$7,759, Lin said.
Disadvantaged children and young people would receive subsidies of NT$2,190 to NT$2,653 per month, up from NT$2,047 to NT$2,479, he said.
The national pension insurance’s additional payment for elderly people, the basic guaranteed payment for elderly people, death benefits and payment for indigenous people aged 55 or older would be increased to NT$4,036 per month, up from NT$3,772, he added.
The yearly benefit for people with mental or physical disabilities, and their guaranteed basic pension payment per month would be increased to NT$5,420, up from NT$5,065, he said.
Responding to a call from Vice President William Lai (賴清德) to shore up the nation’s social safety net, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) ordered officials to ensure that the proposed measures be implemented with haste, Lin said.
The cost of the adjustments exceeded the government’s proposed social welfare budget by NT$19.3 billion because the proposal used consumer price index data from March, while the cost-of-living adjustments used data from last month, Minister Without Portfolio Lin Wan-i (林萬億) said.
The public can rest assured that the funds for the hike would be secured, he said.
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