Assets check required for govt welfare

A new regulation will deny welfare subsidies to residents who own assets that require a certain level of income to buy, such as vehicles or real estate.

Under the new rules, which will take effect in June, civil affairs authorities will not only test applicants' family incomes but also factor in the value of their assets to see if they are eligible to receive benefits.

Currently, in an urban Beijing household where each family member's average monthly income is less than 520 yuan ($82), the minimum income standard set by the government for urban households, each member can get a subsidy to make up the difference between the individual's income and the standard. The threshold for rural households is 380 yuan.

In verifying eligibility, authorities will consider an applicant household's income, bank accounts, pension, stocks, securities, unemployment insurance and lottery proceeds.

The regulation limits the amount of assets that can be held by each family member of an applicant household to around 12,500 yuan ($2,000). Rural households are allowed 9,120 yuan in assets per person.

The city's minimum living subsidy covers around 200,000 residents, according to the Beijing News.

Households that have more than one private real estate property or public rental house are not eligible to apply for welfare. Families who own vehicles, such as cars or motorbikes, are also barred from receiving aid, according to the new rules.

Some have doubts about the use of motorcycles in the criteria. Lu Xuejing, a social security expert at the Capital University of Economics and Business, said motorbikes are quite common, especially for residents who live in a place where roads are uneven.

"Motorbikes are necessary for many people in mountainous regions, so it's questionable to list them as a thing to gauge a family's poverty," she said.

In response to a possible public outcry over the inclusion of motorbikes into the qualification criteria, Qi Yu, an officer with the Beijing bureau of civil affairs' social relief department, said in suburban and rural areas, a family can be regarded as rich if they own a motorbike.

"And what's more important, a motorbike could be used as a tool to make money," he said.

Qi said the new regulation would go through a pilot period for a year, and each district and county could make minor adjustments according to their own situations.

The government will require civil affairs, social security, housing and transportation and finance departments to carry out due diligence in assessing eligibility and to ensure equity in the distribution of welfare payments.

Applicants will also be asked to fill in a form to list all family incomes and assets and consent to allow the civil affairs department to check their financial resources.

"Any applicant whose declaration contradicts the facts and wants to cheat the welfare system will not be allowed to apply for the subsidy again for six months and will have a mark on their record in a credit system," according to the rules.

Qi said the new regulations make oversight more effective because authorities will take the totality of an applicant's financial situation into account.

Lu said it is necessary to screen applicants for eligibility, but it is not always easy for authorities to acquire the truth.

"Some people may do some odd jobs to get payments in cash, which authorities have no way of knowing about," she said.

Lu also said it's questionable for the government to check household bank accounts and stock returns.

"The confidentiality of a household's financial situation should be highly respected," she said.

Lu said although it is complicated to tell the difference between people and those who game the system, the new regulation represents progress and are proof of the government's efforts to make its welfare policy and system more efficient.