The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs announced Thursday that living allowances for disabled people in need and subsidies to cover treatment and rehabilitation of the severely disabled will be fully implemented as of Jan. 1, 2016.
Currently, China has more than 82 million people with physical or mental disabilities. The State Council issued guidance on providing the disabled people with daily necessities and rehabilitation in September 2015. This guidance states that the government of all levels should give special support to the disabled.
Households enjoying the minimum living guarantee are eligible for the disability living allowances and people with level 1 or level 2 disabilities for rehabilitation subsidies, according to the guidance.
The provincial level governments should not offer allowances for the disabled which are lower than the amount required by the guidance, according to Li Liguo, Minister of Civil Affairs. Li added that better developed regions were encouraged to lower the thresholds and include more disabled people as beneficiaries.
The Chinese government gave the disabled allowances of 155.4 billion yuan from 2011 to 2014. The new allowance program for the disabled has been implemented in 13 provinces. According to the program, the national average allowance for a disabled person is 80 yuan a month. Allowances can be adjusted in accordance with the economic and social development levels of each province. The allowances are not regarded as the income of households enjoying the minimum living guarantee to ensure that these households are still eligible for the subsistence allowances.
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