From October 20 to 22 by the Huangpu River in Shanghai, the 2026 Sustainable Global Leaders Conference will return. Nobel Prize and Turing Award winners will take the stage to discuss the future and trends of technology, and the popular professor who "rescues" people from anxiety and involution, Macfarlane, will hold a live dialogue with Xiang Biao!
Limited spots are available, first come first served. Let us join together for this appointment with sustainability! [Click to register] Statistics released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs show that as of the first half of this year, there were 39.354 million urban and rural subsistence allowance recipients and 4.937 million people in extreme poverty nationwide; 12.027 million people received living subsidies for persons with disabilities in difficulty, and 16.871 million people received nursing care subsidies for persons with severe disabilities. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, cumulative national spending on basic living assistance exceeded 1.38 trillion yuan, and the average urban and rural subsistence allowance standards increased by 22.8% and 25%, respectively. Behind the data are specific individuals and real families being supported by an increasingly complete social assistance system.
Starting July 1 this year, the Social Assistance Law of the People's Republic of China officially took effect. Policies introduced one after another are better able to identify difficulties in a timely manner, respond precisely to needs, and guarantee basic living standards. China's basic livelihood safety net is being woven more and more tightly.
Actively developing service-oriented social assistance makes bottom-line protection stronger
In Changle Town, Hepu County, Beihai City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Zhang Shanying (pseudonym) has moved into an elderly care institution. Every day someone cares for her daily life, delivers meals at mealtimes, and provides timely attention when she feels unwell. Not long ago, Zhang Shanying's husband suddenly passed away, and she lost her support because she could not take care of herself. Because relevant documents had been lost, even applying for assistance became a problem. After learning of the situation, staff from the Changle Town civil affairs office took the initiative to intervene, contacted the public security department to replace her household register and ID card, coordinated with relevant departments to replace her disability certificate and social security card, and then helped verify her family situation and handle her assistance application. After review, Zhang Shanying was identified as a person in extreme poverty. Considering that she could not take care of herself and had no one nearby to care for her, local authorities coordinated to send her to an elderly care institution for centralized support.
The difficulties of the people are major matters in social assistance work. For people with special difficulties such as those who are incapacitated, disabled, or have no one to care for them, the problem is often not merely a lack of money. Who will cook, who will provide care, and what to do when one cannot take care of oneself are all immediate challenges. Recently, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Finance issued the Guiding Opinions on Actively Developing Service-Oriented Social Assistance, promoting a shift in social assistance from a single material assistance approach to a comprehensive "material + services" assistance model, and providing care, living support, and companionship services according to the actual needs of assistance recipients.
"The problems faced by people in difficulty are very specific. Sometimes what is lacking is living expenses, and sometimes what is lacking is a person who can care for and accompany them nearby," said Zhu Jianhua, a professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He said that actively developing service-oriented social assistance should not only ensure the basic living standards of people in difficulty, but also give them emotional support and hope in life. "From ensuring basic food and clothing to further responding to practical needs such as daily care, life services, psychological comfort, companionship, and social integration, this reflects that China's social assistance is paying more attention to the specific circumstances of people in difficulty, and by linking resources and integrating forces, it provides more multidimensional comprehensive support."
"Big data + 'iron feet'" enables timely intervention and more proactive identification of assistance
Dong Xinghua, a civil affairs assistant in Yuanhe Subdistrict, Yunhe County, Lishui City, Zhejiang Province, opened the Zhejiang Provincial Social Assistance Information System, and an early warning for large medical expenditures popped up. It turned out that 67-year-old Uncle Que had previously applied for assistance and, because his ability to resist risks was relatively weak, had been included in dynamic monitoring in the social assistance information system. In March this year, Uncle Que suffered a sudden cerebral infarction that left him paralyzed all over. The medical expenses incurred in the early stage almost exhausted the family's savings, and there were still monthly rehabilitation and nursing fees afterward, leaving them unable to make ends meet. Seeing the warning, Dong Xinghua immediately called to verify the situation. After checking with the hospital and Uncle Que's son, she used the system's "mobile agency" function to help Uncle Que's family apply for the "one matter" coordinated assistance service. "You take care of your father with peace of mind. We will handle the rest," Dong Xinghua told Uncle Que's son. That afternoon, the subsistence allowance application was submitted through the system. Fifteen days later, Uncle Que's family was approved for subsistence allowance benefits, receiving 1,210 yuan per month, and subsequent medical expenses were also covered according to local policies. Since the beginning of this year, Yunhe County has proactively identified and included 135 similar families in assistance through system warnings.
A family can fall into difficulty sometimes after just one serious illness or one accident. In the past, some people did not understand the policies, did not know whom to contact, or were too overwhelmed by urgent matters to apply, and might not enter the assistance system for a time. Now, as information sharing among departments and grassroots visits and screening are more closely connected, the role of dynamic monitoring of low-income populations has become more evident. The Social Assistance Law includes marginal subsistence allowance families and families with difficulty due to rigid expenditures within the scope of social assistance recipients, and makes institutional arrangements for strengthening dynamic monitoring of low-income populations and proactively identifying people in difficulty.
"The value of 'policies finding people' lies in moving the threshold for discovery and assistance forward," Zhu Jianhua said. Data can help identify possible risks for a family, but to truly know what a family lacks and where the difficulties lie, grassroots workers still need to enter the home. "Big data discovers clues, and 'iron feet' verify the situation. Only by combining the two can proactive prevention and early intervention be achieved, making assistance both fast and accurate. This is also a concrete manifestation of social assistance playing its risk-prevention function."
A relevant official from the Social Assistance Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs said that a stratified and classified social assistance system is currently being further improved. Through a combination of departmental data sharing and household visits, monitoring and early warning are achieved, and families that fall into difficulty due to large medical expenditures or sharp income declines are discovered in a timely manner. Then, corresponding assistance policies are matched according to the degree and type of difficulty. This not only ensures that eligible people in difficulty are "covered as they should be," but also strives to achieve early discovery of difficulties and early intervention in assistance.
Subsidy systems continue to improve, making protection for persons with disabilities warmer
In Lijiatanghou Village, Longshan Subdistrict, Wendeng District, Weihai City, Shandong Province, for Wang Ankang (pseudonym), who has been bedridden for more than 20 years due to paralysis caused by a car accident, nursing pads, medicines, and nutritional products are fixed monthly expenses. In 2016, Wang Ankang began receiving living subsidies for persons with disabilities in difficulty and nursing care subsidies for persons with severe disabilities. At that time, both subsidies were 80 yuan per month. Now, according to local standards, the two subsidies have increased to 213 yuan and 192 yuan per month, respectively. "The subsidies arrive on time every month, which gives me peace of mind," Wang Ankang said. These two sums can basically cover the cost of nursing consumables and commonly used medicines, and are very important to his family.
During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the standards for the two subsidies for persons with disabilities increased by 34.58% and 25.09%, respectively. In recent years, the system of the two subsidies for persons with disabilities has been continuously improved. Applications for qualification recognition have achieved "interprovincial handling" and "full online processing." Relevant departments have continuously strengthened data sharing and proactive services, making it more convenient for eligible persons with disabilities to enjoy policies.
"As the two subsidies for persons with disabilities and the level of social assistance continue to rise, the basic living standards of persons with disabilities have been effectively guaranteed. At the same time, long-term care is becoming a real challenge for many families with persons with disabilities, especially families with persons with severe disabilities," said Yang Lixiong, a professor at Renmin University of China. He believes it is necessary to continuously improve the care and support service system for persons with severe disabilities. In the process of developing service-oriented social assistance, persons with severe disabilities in difficulty should be listed as key service recipients, with precise measures taken to reduce the care burden on their families.
A relevant official from the Social Affairs Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs said that the living subsidy for persons with disabilities in difficulty is mainly used to subsidize the extra living expenses incurred by persons with disabilities because of disability, while the nursing care subsidy for persons with severe disabilities is mainly used to subsidize the extra long-term care expenses incurred by persons with disabilities because of disability. Next, the dynamic adjustment mechanism for subsidy standards will continue to be improved, data sharing and comparison and proactive services will be strengthened, and eligible persons with disabilities will be able to enjoy policies in a more timely and convenient manner.
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