On Social Assistance

As the eldest form of social security, social assistance is a vital part of the social security system. Social assistance is such a social security form that the country and society provide material assistance to those who are under statutory minimum income stand for various reasons in order to meet their basic needs and right for subsistence through way of legislation. In modern society, social assistance, as well as social insurance, social welfare and veteran placement constitute the social security system, in which social assistance plays a role of subsistence allowance and forms the"net of last security line". The initial social assistance is performed by members of a society spontaneously to assistant those who are under average level. It is scattered, random and uncertain for it is a completely spontaneous act. This spontaneous behavior becomes mandatory and organized philanthropy in its way of development. Social assistance witnessed a complex process of development after it had development into a regime. In its initial stage, social assistance is aimed just to meet basic needs of the poor. With the economic development, the level of social assistance changed greatly. It has gone beyond the basic need of the poor to become defined by various factors as the average social consuming level, history, morality and other social factors. In addition, social assistance has exceeded its initial function of helping the poor to become a form of balancing the income gap.From immature to be legalized, institutionalized and standardized, social assistance gained a long and complex way of development. The first chapter gives a brief introduction of the concept, contents, standards and principles of social assistance. The second chapter explains the contents, characteristics and the latest development trend of social assistance system in and out our country. This chapter lays importance on social assistance in ancient and modern China periods. The third chapter elaborates the exploration, experience, inspiration and existing problem on social assistance in Hekou District, Dongying City. At last, it analyzes some common problems existing in China's social assistance. The last chapter gives methods and suggestions on the reinforcement and improvement of social assistance in China.