Social Protection Brief: Streamlining Legal and Regulatory Framework for Social Assistance in the People’s Republic of China

Abstract

The Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has recognized social policies and social assistance as an important tool for tackling poverty and inequality. In addition to the ongoing economic development efforts, the government seeks to strengthen the social assistance system to help individuals cope with risks and offer an effective safety net to those who fall behind. The social assistance system includes the minimum living standards guarantee (MLSG) for urban and rural areas, the five guarantees program, medical financial assistance, and temporary assistance. There are a number of problems with the existing social assistance programs: (i) overlapping coverage and benefits, (ii) insufficient level of benefits, and (iii) low-quality and insufficient provision of social housing support. Moreover, there is a large disparity in social assistance benefits provided to urban-registered residents based on the hukou system1 versus rural residents, and migrant labor who have limited access to social assistance.