Taiwan’s government is considering giving a one-off payment to families with elementary school-aged children. The proposal would also give financial support to families of middle and high school-aged children with special needs. Premier Su Tseng-chang discussed the plan for targeted financial support in a number of government meetings on Friday.
Taiwan is currently suffering its worst outbreak of COVID-19 yet, with schools across the country conducting lessons online. That situation has created an added childcare burden for parents who cannot work from home.
According to Cabinet staff, all families with a child in elementary school or with special needs would be eligible. That’s regardless of whether the parents have requested leave to care for their children during the current outbreak of COVID-19.
Money for the payments would come from a special budget within the government’s stimulus package. But since Taiwan’s legislature hasn’t finished its third and final reading of the stimulus bill, the size of the payment is still under discussion.
Premier Su has asked government departments to learn from problems encountered during last year’s stimulus package rollout. He says people who applied for financial support last year shouldn’t have to reapply.