Evaluation And Improvement Of The Targeting Policy Of Urban Minimum Living Guarantee

The theme of the paper is to study the targeting efficiency of Urban Minimum Living Guarantee from the citizens’ social relief rights and the multi-responsibilities. This will be helpful to adjusting and improving the Targeting Policy of Urban Minimum Living Guarantee, then to achieve the unity of civil rights and state responsibility as well as its own responsibility.This study is based on theories of the welfare of civil rights, national responsibility based on civil rights, responsibility from the disadvantage’s needs, unity between rights and responsibilities, responsibilities of citizens and the state, explains questions produced in the practice of the system, and as a guide to improve the targeting efficiency of the Urban Minimum Living Guarantee.Establishment and Improvement of Urban Minimum Living Guarantee Targeting Policy need to address three issues:What kinds of theories should the design of the policy be guided by, what is the goal of policy designing, and how to achieve this goal? This research analyze adjustment and improvement of the Urban Minimum Living Guarantee Targeting Policy from these three aspects:policy theories, policy objectives and implementation methods. First, the policy theories, it is the answer to the problems of policy, and is the core-value of a policy design to guide. Targeting mechanism of China’s current Urban Minimum Living Guarantee is designed to protect the basic right to life of citizens, to assume responsibility of the State uni-directionally, and based on the selected logical access control. The concept of Urban Minimum Living Guarantee Targeting Policy is to achieve the transformation of both the right to life and the right to development, focus on both rights and responsibilities, and balance the strict control and targeting. Second, the policy objective is the ultimate goal of policy design to be achieved. Reconstruction of policy objective is to promote social integration not only guarantee the right to life, to promote social equality not only maintain social stability. Third, achievement methods are specific programs of the transition and adjustment of these policies. This study focuses on the strategies for access to qualified, set a reasonable target group selection principles and access to qualified for our urban low relief, use various targeting strategies for the accurate positioning target groups, and promote the adjustment and improvement of the Urban Minimum Living Guarantee Targeting Policies.Targeting of the Urban Minimum Living Guarantee is a dynamic process to identify target groups according to the specific qualifications and appropriate levels of access, and is an important part of Urban Minimum Living Guarantee to which standards and mechanisms to screen and identify key groups of recipients. Based on the understanding of the background of Urban Minimum Living Guarantee, this study focuses system design theories, and analyzes policy implications as well as the institutional framework behind our current targeting system.From the targeting policy design of Urban Minimum Living Guarantee, the study suggests that there are three lags:First, targeted solely to the right to maintain basic survival needs by way of income support; Second, unidirectional transfer of rights and responsibilities; Third, through strict control of access ways to target screening. Program targeting China’s urban residents’ minimum living security system comprise the follow:receiving, household surveys, democratic appraisal and approval, and public approval of the audit and other legal aspects. In practice, family as one unit, head of a household applies, then the neighborhood survey, and after democratic appraisal, posting publicity, street audit, the approval of district-level civil affairs departments, publicity again, the application is approved if without objection. If any, then re-examine such procedures. Fair and rigorous program targeting urban residents is the premise of precisely targeting low income groups, is also the core of fair and equitable system of Urban Minimum Living Guarantee.In order to evaluate the targeting efficiency and the problems, the study using the Wuhan 480 Needy Families Survey Data to describe the reality Targeting Policy condition of the area by the procedures rationality, policy justice and satisfaction, as well as the outlook on the powers and responsibilities of the respondent. For the reasonable judgments of targeting procedures, respondents give a higher rating to the reasonableness. To some extent, it reflects the positive attitude for Targeting Policies. However, it learned that many poor residents has a low understanding on the Urban Minimum Living Guarantee by case interview. They are unclear about the aimed object, the application process, the salvage standards, and the working process of the community committees. For the payment fairness of system, most people think that the vast majority receive minimal needs are real poor families, but many respondents were outspoken that there are some closely-related units and higher salary but also take the money. For the satisfaction of targeting policy, respondents have a high satisfactory on the policy. More than half of respondents believe that the amount of relief is much more lower, reflecting the respondents’ aspirations and demands to improve the standard of low. For the rights and responsibilities of Targeting Policy, respondents have a initiative universal awareness for the state responsibility and individual responsibility. However, there is also the right misreading phenomenon on the Targeting Policy, mainly reflected in the understanding on salvage rights and the national gift.In order to investigate the targeting efficiency of the region, the study make use of absolute poverty standards to evaluate it. The results showed that:in the 480 valid samples, family per capita income below the absolute poverty standards are 440 households, families get actual relief are only 433. So, there is targeting deviation phenomenon in the system implementation. With comparison of the actual situation of the household, in 440 poor households,28 households did not get low relief qualifications, the "extrusion rate" is 6.4%; 412 absolute poverty families have received subsistence allowances relief, the "coverage rate" is 93.6%. So, the survey area did not completely cover the poor families, there is "abandoning true error". In the obtained 433 households, family per capita income is higher than the rescue standard are 21 households, the "leakage rate" is 4.8%; 412 absolute poverty households get low relief, the "targeting rate" is 95.2%. So, there is a certain degree of "take pseudo-error" in the survey area.The sum of "extrusion rate" and "leakage rate" is 11.2%, and there is a certain degree of targeting deviation phenomenon. It is Visibly that using the current method of household income criterion to target the poor family is unreasonable. Which can only guarantee absolute poverty, but can not cover a relatively poor.In order to looking for the decisive factor and significant recognition index of the poverty target families, the study analyze the impact factors of urban poor families by Binary Logistic Regression Model from the head of a household feature, the family demographic characteristics, family life and property status and the social interaction condition. Then to Identify the highly correlated predictor of targeting and examine the changes of these independent variables on the dependent variable under the statistical control.The study discovered that the family-owned human capital, physical capital, financial capital and social capital has become a significant effect on the poverty family by the analysis of the micro identify factors of the targeting. So the micro-level household livelihood factors are the decisive factors affecting resident of poverty. These indicators should be an important reference for the target groups to measure whether they have low entry qualifications.In order to further improve the targeting efficiency, the study make use of the advanced international "Destitution Index" to measure the degree of urban poverty. It founds that those located at the lowest end extreme poverty households have 92.5% received a minimal assistance, and 7.5%(extrusion rate) of the poorest households don’t received the assistance.While there are 28 families have received subsistence allowances of those 40 richest families at the highest end of the Destitution Index.It is also verify the existence of "abandoning true error" and "take pseudo-error" by the method of sorting livelihood assets in the investigation area. This is consistent with the results of the evaluation of absolute poverty standard measurement method. Using livelihood assets quantitative method during the targeting process of Urban Minimum Living Guarantee is quite feasible, and is a useful attempt to improve the targeting efficiency.Based on the previous targeting efficiency evaluation and combined with the local government practice, the study focused on the adjustment and improvement of Targeting Policy, and proceed with the transition of policy ideas and the reconstruction of policy objectives. On policy ideas, the right to life and the right to development are both very important, rights and responsibilities are reciprocal in the welfare, as well as the strict control and targeting of unity. Under the guidance of the new policy ideas, the Targeting Policy of Urban Minimum Living Guarantee should be against social exclusion and promote social integration; against the government liability standard and achieve social equality. The study suggest that it should proceed with a reasonable set of qualifications and multi-dimensional strategy targeting access to complete the policy. The former responses the first targeting question——how to define who are "the most in need or most impoverished" people; The latter address the second targeting issue——the manner in which the limited resources located in the "most needy" body. The setting method of access qualification of Urban Minimum Living Guarantee should based on means-tested, and the judgment of group attribute and individual differences, using a variety criteria to define the target group, then operate the above criteria. On the basis of comprehensive judgment of access qualification, it can screen the target groups preliminary by the type classify and demand positioning, then to make use of the quantitative methods of livelihood assets, to use the ethical conduct method and case management method to further screen the target groups.