Research on National Minimum Assistance Based on an Analysis of Factors Causing Financial Distress in Elderly Households Receiving Public Assistance

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the reasons why elderly persons who have become public assistance recipients fall into financial distress, and to discuss what the national minimum assistance for the elderly should be.The number of recipients of public assistance has recently risen, as has their ratio, and the rising number of impoverished elderly persons has been a major factor in these increases. It is believed that this is not only an economic problem, but results also from the failure to conduct social structural reform. It cannot be denied that the decrease in pension payouts and increases in both social insurance premiums and users’ fees for medical and nursing care have contributed to the deterioration in the quality of life for the elderly.This research, based on surveys of households receiving public assistance, attempts to analyze the factors underlying falling living stand­ards for many persons in order to explore the important issue of what the national minimum level of assistance should be.