Welfare Reform in East Asia: Towards Workfare by Chak Kwan Chan & Kinglun Ngok

Author:Chak Kwan Chan & Kinglun Ngok [Chan, Chak Kwan & Ngok, Kinglun]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780415728379
Amazon: B00ABM3M8O
Barnesnoble: B00ABM3M8O
Goodreads: 20211384
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2013-10-29T00:00:00+00:00

Special Workfare Measures

In addition to the Public Assistance Act and various workfare-related measures for assisting the poor and the unemployed, the state enacted some temporary measures to meet the urgent needs of people affected by natural disasters and severe economic recessions. The recipients still needed to work to obtain the allowance, but the requirements were less rigorous than for the existing measures.

Restoration Programmes After the 921 Earthquake in 1999

Taiwan experienced a 7.6 magnitude earthquake on 21 September 1999 that particularly affected the central part of the island. It killed more than 2,000 people and destroyed or seriously damaged 100,000 houses or apartments. Many affected families and individuals experienced immediate economic hardship because of losing their jobs or having to leave their jobs in order to help their families or repair their homes (Shieh 2008).

The state appropriated part of the Employment Security Fund to provide allowances for those affected and others living in the affected areas based on a temporary programme called the Measure of 921 Earthquake Restoration Employment Services, Vocational Training and Temporary Work Allowance (ERES). Applicants for this allowance had to meet certain conditions such as the damage to their residences had to be more than a specified amount and one of the members of their families had to have participated in labour insurance previously. Those who qualified had to help with the restoration work in the affected areas and to work at least three days weekly to receive the weekly allowance (ERES). Some of those affected complained about this, but a local official defended the measure by pointing out that it was intended as workfare and not a social allowance (Huang 2000). The CLA also instructed this programme specifically to provide re-employment opportunities for the unemployed in the affected areas during 2004 and 2005 (ERES).

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