Equal Protection In The Subsistence Allowances

The subsistence allowances system is a kind of social relief methods through which the country and society provide essential living materials to the people who can't afford themselves. It's an important right confirmed and protected by the Constitution and the law. As the subsistence allowances is provided by the government and depends on the country's financial resources, it is affected by the country's politics and economy to give the subsistence allowances to the right man. But inevitably, the issue of equality comes up.Equality means"the same treatment to the same people, the different treatment to the different people", which is against unreasonable discrimination. However, for the variability of individuals, we must take the relative characters for the judgments in the subsistence allowances system to meat the requirements of the equality said in the constitution. The purpose of the subsistence allowances system is to provide the persons in difficulty necessary help, so that they can get through the temporary hard time with dignity and can make way for the further development. So it is regarded as the last means to save struggling members of society. So the rational standards for the appropriate men should closely be related with the value of the subsistence allowances system.In the complex social practice, a large number of regulatory documents claim that in order to better achieve the aim of the subsistence allowances system; they need further distinguish in the group of poor man. In the foreign judicial practice, there are generally two ways to decide under the basic requirements of equality. The first is using the principle of proportionality to determine whether the classification means chosen have is the least damage for the parties. Second is to expose the specific categories which do not meet the basic demands of equality. The ways just seems differently. We can say that using the principle of proportionality can provide the general rules for the operating, and the typed operating provides more specific guidelines.In subsistence allowances system, the following distinctions between these types of standards are likely against the principle of equality. First, the legislative purpose of "discrimination" will deprive certain groups of the subsistence allowances as a means of punishment. The second is the use of non-appropriate standards, especially the physiological characteristics of the parties and the social identity, to obtain the minimum subsistence rights.