7 How to get by when you have no money

All three conditions must be met. First, your employer and you must have paid unemployment insurance for a cumulative full 1 year. Second, you did not resign on your own (the legal term is “employment interrupted not due to the person’s own will”). Third, you have completed unemployment registration and are willing to seek work. How long you can receive depends on contribution years. Cumulative full 1 year but under 5 years: at most 12 months. Full 5 years but under 10 years: at most 18 months. 10 years or more: at most 24 months. The monthly amount is set by the provincial government and differs by province. It is below the local minimum wage and above urban dibao. The national goal is to raise it gradually to 90% of the minimum wage. While receiving unemployment benefits, you still participate in employee basic medical insurance and enjoy its benefits. The basic medical insurance premiums due are paid from the unemployment insurance fund; you pay nothing personally (nationwide; the regulations have been in force since 1999)

The first step is to complain. Call 12333, or complain to labor inspection at the local human resources and social security bureau. By law the investigation finishes within 60 working days after filing; complex cases may be extended by another 30 working days. If confirmed, the company can be ordered to pay by a deadline. If it still does not pay after the deadline, it must add compensation of 50% to 100% of the amount due. In 2024, inspection agencies nationwide handled 137,000 cases and recovered 8.65 billion yuan (86.5 yi) in wages for 654,000 people. If you have an IOU or a wage sheet and the facts of the unpaid wages are clear, you may also apply directly to a grassroots court for a payment order. A payment order is a court order telling the company to pay; the court issues it within 15 days of accepting the case. The second step is to apply for arbitration. By law the case is closed within 45 days of acceptance, extendable by another 15 days. For unpaid wages you may apply for advance enforcement: part of the award can be enforced before the whole case is finished. If the amount owed does not exceed 12 times the local monthly minimum wage, it is final in one arbitration: after the award the company cannot sue again. In 2024, 4,257,000 cases were handled nationwide and 4,156,000 were closed. The closed amount was 93.47 billion yuan. The mediation success rate was 79.6%, the arbitration closure rate 98.2%, and the arbitration termination rate 73.7%. Some people say this takes “half a year to a year”; that refers to cases that go on to court after arbitration. Those cases take 6 months at first instance (3 months under the summary procedure), plus 3 months for a second instance. In 2024 courts closed 88,000 cases seeking labor remuneration and recovered 28.54 billion yuan; 998 people were sentenced for the crime of refusing to pay labor remuneration (nationwide)

A State Council regulation states that civil legal aid covers six kinds of matters: claims for state compensation; requests for social insurance or dibao benefits; applications for survivor benefits or relief funds; demands for support for elderly parents, child support, or spousal maintenance; wage recovery claims; and civil claims arising from acts of bravery. In criminal cases, defendants who may face capital punishment or those who are blind, deaf, mute, or minors are guaranteed legal representation irrespective of their financial circumstances.

Shelters supply food and lodging that meet basic hygiene standards. Should you suffer a medical emergency while there, they send you to hospital for treatment. They also assist in reaching out to relatives or employers. For those unable to pay for travel back to their registered home or current residence, a travel voucher for a vehicle or boat – that is, a ticket – is provided. “Household registration” refers to your hometown, while “current residence” is wherever you currently live. Generally, stays are capped at 10 days; stays may be extended for people waiting for family to collect them, waiting for treatment, or waiting for placement. Police and other government officials encountering homeless individuals in the course of their duties must inform them of this assistance option. Special care is given to disabled persons, minors, the elderly, and anyone with mobility issues – they are guided and escorted to shelters (nationwide, since 2003).

The law guarantees that the following services must be provided at no cost: advice on employment policies; information about current job openings and labor shortages; career guidance and job matching; processing of both employment and unemployment registration; and targeted employment support for individuals facing employment difficulties. These agencies are prohibited from engaging in any commercial activities or profiting off these services. Registering and publishing job-seeking and hiring information for gig work is also offered to the public free of charge, as part of the broader public employment information system. Support is also to be stepped up for gig workers in hardship, such as those who have waited a long time for work (that is, who cannot get jobs for long periods) and those from low-income households (nationwide).

Two kinds of households can receive temporary assistance. One is households that, because of accidents, a family member’s sudden major illness, or similar reasons, temporarily cannot cover the most basic costs such as food, lodging, and medical care. The other is dibao households whose unavoidable expenses suddenly rise beyond what they can bear. Which events are covered and how much is paid are set and published by local governments at county level or above (national system; amounts set locally; since 2014). The Social Assistance Law (社会救助法), in force from July 1, 2026, describes the targets as “persons whose basic living is temporarily in serious difficulty because of sudden, urgent, catastrophic, or similar hardship,” with cash or in-kind aid. Apply for temporary assistance at the township government or subdistrict office of the “place where the urgent hardship occurred.” When the situation is urgent and the amount is small, aid should be given first and paperwork completed afterward. A late-2025 document of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Finance sets how to pay. Sudden setbacks, accidental injury, major illness, and similar urgent hardship use “small-amount fast aid”: household finances are not checked again, there is no public notice, processing generally takes no more than 3 days, and the top tier is no more than 1 month of the local dibao standard. Dibao-edge households and rigid-expenditure hardship households that fall into difficulty because medical or schooling costs suddenly rise are aided after public notice, in principle with “one approval, phased payment.” Temporary assistance outside small-amount fast aid has a top tier of no more than 6 times the local monthly dibao standard (nationwide, from 2026; concrete standards set locally)

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 6,250,000 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 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 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)

The State Council set two subsidies. The first is the living subsidy for disabled persons in difficulty; the document’s targets are “disabled persons in dibao households; places with the means may gradually expand to low-income disabled persons and other disabled persons in difficulty.” That means dibao households’ disabled members first, with expansion where local finances allow. The second is the care subsidy for severely disabled persons; the document’s targets are “severely disabled persons rated disability level 1 or 2 who need long-term care.” Both can be received at the same time

Besides the individual share, finance adds a further amount per person. In 2024 it was no less than 670 yuan. In 2025 it rose 30 yuan from the prior year to no less than 700 yuan; the individual contribution remains no less than 400 yuan (医保发〔2025〕22 号, as restated in provincial documents). The 2026 Government Work Report said it would rise another 24 yuan. For dibao recipients and extremely poor persons, qualifying medical costs still left after medical insurance reimbursement can be reimbursed again through medical assistance at a rate of no less than 70%. The cost of a lapse is a waiting period. If you did not enroll in the concentrated window, or did not keep continuous payments, after you pay there is a fixed 3-month benefit waiting period when medical care is not reimbursed. Each extra year interrupted adds another 1 month in principle (from 2025, nationwide)

The state bundles basic medical insurance, critical-illness insurance, and medical assistance as the “triple system,” each layer catching what the one above leaves. For dibao recipients and extremely poor persons, qualifying medical costs are assisted at no less than 70%. Patients with serious illness who were not poor but became poor from treatment may apply for further assistance. If you registered before cross-province hospitalization, you can settle directly at discharge without advancing the full bill and returning to the insured place to claim. Stopping work for illness has a medical treatment period of 3 to 24 months, set by length of service. During that time the company may not end the labor contract, and sick-leave pay may not be below 80% of the local minimum wage. Injured workers have a work-stoppage with pay period — time off to recover — with original wages and benefits paid monthly by the employer, generally no more than 12 months. If credit-card debt exceeds repayment capacity but you are still willing to repay, you may negotiate a personalized installment plan with the bank for up to 5 years. Once the agreement is signed, the bank must stop collection. Personal assistance platforms that raise money online for someone must be designated by the civil affairs department under the State Council. Platforms must verify that the appeal is true. Donated money may only be paid to the person seeking help, or to an account they provide (nationwide)

Once you submit the application form for a resident ID card, authorities must issue the card within 60 days. During this period, if you urgently need identification, you may apply for a temporary resident ID card, which is issued within 3 days of the application and is valid for 3 months (nationwide).

After receiving this recognition, individuals who are not employed and pay their own social insurance premiums — known as flexible workers — become eligible for subsidies. These subsidies generally cover up to two-thirds of actual payments, for a maximum duration of three years. Employers hiring such individuals or placing them in public welfare jobs also receive subsidies covering their contributions toward pension, medical, and unemployment insurance. Public welfare jobs are positions created and funded by the government; their subsidy refers to the local minimum wage. Priority goes to people facing employment difficulties. Additionally, one-time job-seeking subsidies are available for recent college graduates from dibao-receiving households, zero-employment households, or extremely poor families; disabled graduates and those who have taken national student loans also qualify. These subsidies are collected during the academic year of graduation (national framework; specific eligibility criteria and amounts are determined locally).

Regulations issued by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security outline several employment assistance programs funded specifically to support job seekers. Eligible individuals can receive vocational training subsidies up to three times per person after completing approved training and earning the required certificates. Those facing employment difficulties who pay for their own social insurance (flexible employment) can get subsidies for up to three years; this period extends until retirement for anyone within five years of reaching the statutory retirement age. Recent college graduates can receive similar social insurance subsidies for up to two years, while those hired by employers qualify for up to one year of support. Additionally, college graduates who have not found work within 2 years of graduation and unemployed youth aged 16–24 can join employment internships and receive basic living allowances during that period.

A combined analysis of 47 controlled job-hunting coaching studies, all of which used experimental or quasi-experimental designs with control groups, shows that the coached group had 2.67 times the odds of finding work of the group not coached (OR 2.67, a ratio of odds). The key components of effective coaching are: teaching job-hunting skills, improving self-presentation, boosting self-efficacy, encouraging proactive behavior, setting clear goals, and fostering social support through asking for help. Programs that combine skill training with motivation-building tactics deliver the best results.

Employers are prohibited from withholding IDs and similar documents, from requiring you to find a guarantor, and from taking your money or goods under any other name. Violations result in mandatory refunds and fines ranging from 500 to 2,000 RMB per worker. Job placement agencies likewise cannot retain IDs or collect deposits; if they fail to place you, they must return all fees. Schemes that demand training fees or loans under the guise of employment are flagged by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and four other departments as “recruit-to-train” and “training loan” scams. Schemes where commission depends on recruiting others and you must pay to join are pyramid schemes; participants face fines up to 2,000 RMB. The part of interest on private loans above four times the one-year LPR at the time the contract was signed is not supported by courts. This regulation replaced the previous tiered limits of 24% and 36% (nationwide, effective August 2020).

Meeting all three conditions qualifies you to apply. First, you must have no property locally, or your living area must be smaller than the required minimum. Second, your income and assets must stay below the prescribed limits. Third, migrant workers must have held steady employment in the area for the mandated duration. Specific eligibility criteria are determined and released by housing authorities in municipalities and counties. Those who register for the queue are referred to as “waiting queue candidates,” and housing authorities are required to assign them a unit within the waiting queue period. (National framework; local areas set individual thresholds and rental rates; implemented since 2012.)

In 2025, the average national per-capita annual expenditure was 29,476 yuan. Of that amount, 8,631 yuan went toward food, tobacco, and alcohol, representing 29.3%. Housing costs totaled 6,397 yuan, or 21.7%. Together they constitute more than half of total spending, so cutting these two is most effective. Senior meal services are now available to all older adults; they include senior cafeterias, dining tables, and meal assistance points, with additional subsidies for those in need. For context, as of 1 January 2026, the lowest first-tier monthly minimum wage across all provinces was 2,080 yuan in Qinghai, while the highest was 2,740 yuan in Shanghai (national figures for 2025–2026).

Basic old-age insurance is counted by cumulative contribution years; interruptions in the middle do not clear the count. At statutory retirement age, a cumulative full 15 years is enough for monthly pension. If short, you may keep contributing until 15 years are met. When you take a job in another place (formally, across pooling areas), the pension relationship follows you and contribution years keep accumulating. Once employee medical insurance cumulative contributions reach the years set by the state, you need not pay after retirement. The cost of a resident medical insurance lapse is a waiting period: after you restart, there is a stretch when care is not reimbursed (resident medical insurance, item 9) (nationwide)

Persons released after serving a sentence enjoy equal rights with other citizens by law and must not be discriminated against in employment, schooling, or social security. Those in living difficulty are helped into placement and given lawful assistance by the government of the hukou or residence place (Prison Law (监狱法) revised in 2026, in force from November 1, 2026). A 2010 central document requires stronger vocational training for them, inclusion in dibao when eligible, and transitional placement bases. If the crime was committed under age 18 and the sentence was 5 years or less, the criminal record is sealed; you need not report it when joining the military or seeking work; if you apply for a certificate of no criminal record, it is issued within 3 working days. The dishonest list lasts 2 years. Once the money is repaid, or in situations such as settlement with the other side, the court should remove the name within 3 working days. The Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Personal Bankruptcy Regulations are currently the only personal bankruptcy rules; after bankruptcy is declared and a full 3-year observation period is completed, unpaid debts may be discharged. Enterprise legal persons that cannot pay due debts and owe more than they have (insolvency) may apply for reorganization, settlement, or bankruptcy liquidation. After the bankruptcy procedure ends, the enterprise goes through deregistration. But people who guaranteed for the enterprise and other joint debtors “continue to bear repayment liability by law” for what remains unpaid. If the boss personally signed a guarantee for the company, that person still must repay. Adult prior records are not sealed: Article 100 of the Criminal Law (刑法) says that a person who has lawfully received a criminal penalty must report it truthfully when joining the military or seeking employment and must not conceal it (nationwide; personal bankruptcy only in Shenzhen)

Regulatory authorities classify such products into two main categories. Medical insurance reimburses you for actual medical expenses incurred, while critical illness insurance pays a predetermined lump sum upon diagnosis of specified illnesses. Both types are designed to cover out-of-pocket costs and lost earnings after basic medical insurance has been applied. Plans with a term of one year or less and no guaranteed renewal clause fall under short-term health insurance. Those with terms exceeding one year or that do include guaranteed renewal provisions are classified as long-term health insurance. “Guaranteed renewal” means that at the end of the term, the insurer must renew the policy under the original terms and at the agreed premium rate. Insurers are prohibited from encouraging the same individual to purchase multiple expense-reimbursement medical plans with overlapping coverage. Even if you buy two such plans, you can only receive reimbursement for the same expense once. The definitions of critical illnesses are standardized across the industry, covering 28 severe conditions and three milder ones. Malignant tumors, acute myocardial infarction, and sequelae of stroke are among the core conditions covered nationwide since 2019–2020.

24-hour venues allow a person to survive the night with access to restrooms and charging points, though no official figures exist on their safety. At the shelters, the Ministry of Civil Affairs requires helplines to stay open all day, with 24-hour duty staff. People in difficulty who come for help are aided first, under the policy. People who cannot find work, victims of theft or robbery, or those suddenly left without income can get emergency transitional living support. Places with the means open community service centers and similar sites as temporary shelters. In winter, people in difficulty are also guided to shelters or temporary cold-weather sites. For those unwilling to enter a shelter, patrol staff give food, clothing, and warm items, and leave a way to ask for help. Patrols increase during nighttime, cold spells, rain, snow, or ice; key locations include train stations, docks, underpasses, bridges and culverts, and active construction sites (since 2013, Civil Affairs Bureaus nationwide run annual winter outreach programs).

Article 2 of the Labor Contract Law defines employing units as enterprises, individual economic organizations, private non-enterprise units, and similar organizations; a single natural person does not count. Supreme People’s Court labor-dispute interpretations list several disputes that are not labor disputes. First, disputes between a household or individual and a domestic worker. Second, disputes between an individual craftsman and helpers or apprentices. Third, disputes between a rural contracting household and hired persons. Those go to court as ordinary civil disputes, with a 3-year limitation period. Unlicensed employing units are not in that exception. Article 93 of the Labor Contract Law covers units without lawful operating qualifications. For work already done, the unit or its investors must pay wages, economic compensation, and damages. Investors are the people who put money into the unit. Article 29 of that interpretation covers three kinds of units: those without a business license, those whose license was revoked, and those still operating after the license term ended. In a dispute with such a unit, name the unit or its investors as parties. Article 33 of the Labor Security Supervision Regulations says that if there is no business license, or the license has been revoked, but people are still being hired to work, human resources and social security departments still carry out labor security supervision. When personal contracting illegally hires people and harms workers, the organization that contracted out the work and the contracting individual bear joint and several liability for damages (Labor Contract Law, Article 94). Construction entities or construction general contractors sometimes contract or subcontract projects to individuals or units without lawful operating qualifications. When that causes unpaid migrant wages, the construction entity or construction general contractor pays (Regulations on Guaranteeing Payment of Migrant Workers’ Wages Article 36) (nationwide)

For credit cards there are express rules. When debt exceeds your repayment capacity and you are still willing to repay, the bank “may” negotiate equally with you and sign a personalized installment repayment agreement. The agreement lasts at most 5 years. It must state how much is owed, how much each installment is, and whether annual fees and interest are charged during repayment. Once both sides sign, the bank and collection agencies it engages must stop collection. If you do not repay per the agreement, that limit does not apply. If the deal is only oral, the bank must keep a recording at least until the debt is paid off. Debt already under installment cannot be installmented again; personalized installment is the only exception (2022 regulatory notice). When the People’s Bank of China repealed the old bank-card rules in 2025, it stated that credit cards continue under these rules. Online loans have no unified personalized-installment rule; whether deferral or installment is possible depends on the contract and the lender. When the lender is a consumer finance company, rules forbid collection by violence, threats, intimidation, or harassment. Banks and consumer finance companies may not collect from people unrelated to the debt. On paid intermediaries, five departments including the financial regulator issued a joint risk alert in 2026. It says claims such as “loans/credit cards need not be repaid,” “debt negotiation,” “debt swap,” and “credit-report whitewash” are false. Such “agency rights defense” charges high service fees; if you try to quit mid-way you may be sued for breach. They collect your bank cards, phone SIMs, home address, and children’s schools. Providing false materials as they teach, maliciously fleeing debt, or pressing with complaints may, in serious cases, involve crime. The Beijing banking and insurance regulator in 2022 also named ads for “interest freeze,” “stop collection,” and “full interest waiver.” It said that listening to such people, delaying repayment, and not contacting the bank can leave overdue bad records on the credit report. The National Development and Reform Commission ran a 2022 special campaign on “credit-report repair.” The notice says these people blur credit-report objections and credit repair, and defraud under names such as “credit-report repair, whitewash, wipe the slate.” Bad information on a credit report is kept for 5 years from the day the bad act or event ends, then deleted. During the retention period you may add a statement to that record, and the credit-reporting institution must record it (nationwide)