Social welfare policies during global financial crisis: an example of social inclusion in Taiwan

Abstract

In order to cope with the impact of global financial crisis in 2008, Taiwan’s Government initiated many short-term measures for supporting the near-poor families which were not covered by social assistance. Also, for increasing the chance of employment for college graduates during this economic recession, the government promoted a scheme involving one-year internships in various industries with payment provided by the government. These measures aimed to prevent people falling into welfare dependency and social exclusion. The paper briefly depicts the demographic trends and family changes in Taiwan and then introduces aforementioned measures and the outcomes for further discussion.

Keywords:

• Global financial crisis
• near-poor
• social exclusion
• social assistance
• workfare