中国的最低生活保障制度距离“人类福祉”有多远?

How Far Has the Minimum Standard of Living Scheme Achieved Human Well-Being?

一直以来,很多学者、政治家和社团领袖都在追求人类福祉;可是,对于如何量度'福祉',尚存诸多争论。本文首先探讨几种量度福祉的方法存在的缺陷,接着指出人应当是福祉的中心,量度福祉必须包含人的心理和社交的需要。本文以修正后的'人类福祉理论'去审视'最低生活保障制度'后发现,中国目前的低保制度存在如下缺陷:保障金额不足,无法满足受助者生理和健康的需要;低保审批手续有碍社会融合,忽视了受助者的心理需要;促进'人类发展'的机制有待完善;推行低保的官员及义工缺乏专业训练,未能顾及受助人的需要。所以,要真正达至市民福祉,我国的社会政策必须促进受助人的'自主能力'(包括发展潜能及参与决策)及'社群关系',建设一个以'贫困人口为中心'的救助制度。

Many scholars,politicians and community leaders aim at pursuing human well-being.However,there is no consensus on the definitions and measurements of well-being.After examining the weaknesses of the existing well-being measurements,this paper points out that we need to focus on human nature and address the social and psychological needs of human beings.Then,this paper analyses how far the Minimum Standard of Living Scheme(MSLS)has achieved human well-being based on a modified well-being framework.It is pointed out that the MSLS has several constraints such as low levels of assistance,complicated and stigmatized application procedures,limited learning opportunities for recipients,and the lack of professional skills among welfare administrators.This paper concludes that the Chinese government needs to establish a social assistance system which enhances the autonomy and mutuality of welfare recipients.