This file photo shows four children studying at the Suomahua school for orphaned children on August 27, 2010. China is raising the amount of financial assistance for fostered and abandoned children in both rural and urban areas. (File Photo/Xinhua)
China is raising the amount of financial assistance it will provide to the country's foster and abandoned children, the website cnr.cn reported on May 3, 2015.
The country's Ministry of Civil Affairs will raise the minimum "orphan rearing allowance," which refers to the amount of money the state gives to a child that is the ward of a government-run child-care agency, to 1000 yuan (about $162 USD) per month.
The country is also raising the amount given to people raising a child that is in their family, but who are not the child's parents, to 600 yuan (about $97 USD) per month.
Ministry spokesman Chen Rifa said China's minimum orphan rearing allowance system has been established to cover the living costs of orphans in both rural and urban areas.
Chen added that the government is set to further improve the living allowance system for both orphans and children who live in poverty or have been left to take care of themselves, while their parents move to other cities to find work (dubbed "left behind" children in China) by improving child-care policies and encouraging the development of non-government institutions.
