If income is below the local dibao line, apply for dibao; if income is a bit above the line or medical and schooling costs are high, apply for medical, education, housing, and employment assistance

If household per-person income is below the local dibao line and assets also meet the rules, you can apply. At the end of 2024, the national urban dibao line averaged 798.1 yuan per person per month, and the rural line 593.9 yuan. Money is paid as the gap, or in fixed tiers. If income is a bit above the dibao line, or medical and schooling costs are too high, you may still apply for medical, schooling, and housing assistance even without dibao.

Cost

No money spent. Household members who live together submit a written application to the township government or subdistrict office of the hukou place. If that is hard to do yourself, you may ask the villagers’ committee or residents’ committee to apply on your behalf. You must accept checks of household income and assets. Usually 2 to 3 trips, with ID cards, hukou booklets, and proof of income and assets. The hard part is laying household finances open for inspection and waiting through public notice. If you do not qualify for dibao, applying for medical, housing, or employment assistance is also done at the hukou township government or subdistrict office. Education assistance is applied for at the school the child attends.

Benefit

Divide household income by the number of people; if that is below the local dibao standard and household assets are within the rules, you can receive dibao. At the end of 2024, the national average urban dibao standard was 798.1 yuan per person per month, and the rural standard 593.9 yuan per person per month. Urban dibao covered 6250000 people, rural 33615000. Dibao money is paid monthly as the gap: local dibao standard minus household per-person income. For example, if the local standard is 798.1 yuan and household income is 500 yuan per person per month, each person receives 298.1 yuan per month, not 798.1 yuan. The Social Assistance Law (社会救助法) in force from July (7) 2026 also allows fixed-tier payments: dibao “may be paid as the actual gap by which household per-person income falls below the local minimum living standard, or in fixed tiers.” The dibao standard is set by taking local per-person consumption expenditure for the prior year, multiplying by a quantified ratio, and adjusting at intervals — in plain terms, last year’s average spending per person, discounted (national averages; localities differ). There are two further tiers for those who do not qualify for dibao. The first is dibao-edge households: assets meet the rules, and household per-person income is below 1.5 times the local dibao standard (2023 national document). From July (7) 2026 the Social Assistance Law (社会救助法) leaves the uplift ratio above the dibao standard to the province. The second is rigid-expenditure hardship households. The condition is that household per-person income is below local prior-year per-person disposable income, and assets meet the rules. Unavoidable costs such as medical care and schooling must also exceed a local share of household income. Both tiers can receive medical assistance, education assistance, and housing assistance. Education assistance means fee reductions, grants and living subsidies, and student loans. Housing assistance in cities means priority public rental housing or rental subsidies. Unemployed people with work capacity in dibao-edge and rigid-expenditure hardship households can also receive employment assistance. Severely disabled persons and patients with serious illness in dibao-edge households may be brought into dibao individually and receive monthly dibao payments (nationwide, from 2023; ratios and recognition methods set locally)

Notes

Dibao is the last safety net; apply back at the hukou place. If household housing, cars, or deposits exceed local standards, or children are able to support you, approval may fail. Once approved there are other benefits: help paying resident medical insurance (resident medical insurance, item 9), medical assistance when seeking care (medical assistance, item 10), and legal aid without a means test (legal aid, item 3).

Sources · 6

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