HowToLiveBetter.THE BETTER LIFE HANDBOOK
English
YOUR LIFE, YOUR OWN PACE

Getting by when money is tight

Explore each chapter to understand the effort, benefits and context.

Read the chapter introduction

This chapter counts money and practical protection: how much you can receive, which fees can be waived, what services are available, and who qualifies. It does not convert these benefits into years of life. The programs, laws, and RMB amounts below concern China. Policies change each year and differ by location, so use the current amounts and eligibility rules published where you live. Free options with fewer formalities and faster results come first. Options that require building eligibility over time, or vary considerably by locality, come later. Advice based only on experience rather than official documents comes last.

Ideas for a better everyday

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Found:21 ideas
Money & work

Apply online for unemployment insurance benefits as soon as you lose your job

If you and your employer have contributed for at least one year and you did not leave voluntarily, you may claim after registering as unemployed. Contributions of one to under five years allow up to 12 months of benefits; five to under ten years, up to 18 months; and ten years or more, up to 24 months. While you receive the benefit, the unemployment insurance fund pays your employee medical-insurance contribution.

A Stronger evidenceHigh value
No costQuick and easy
Money & work

Report unpaid wages to labor inspectors, then use labor arbitration; both are free

Start with 12333 or the local labor-inspection office. An accepted case should normally be investigated within 60 working days, and inspectors can order payment by a deadline, with an additional 50%–100% payment if the employer fails to comply. Labor arbitration normally concludes within 45 days after acceptance. Most proceedings have timelines measured in months, but a completed case is not the same as money in your account: an employer with no assets, or an owner who disappears, may leave even a successful claimant unpaid.

A Stronger evidence
No costSome time
Money & work

Apply for legal aid if you cannot afford a case

Wage claims, maintenance and support payments, social insurance or subsistence benefits, work-injury matters, and civil rights arising from helping others in an emergency may qualify. Call 12348 or visit the local legal aid center. You no longer have to return to your place of origin for a financial-hardship certificate; give a truthful account of your finances. Certain criminal defendants, including those facing the death penalty and defendants who are blind, deaf, unable to speak, or minors, receive appointed counsel regardless of means.

A Stronger evidenceHigh value
No costQuick and easy
Money & work

If you have nowhere to turn, seek a relief station for food, shelter, and travel home

A relief station provides basic food and accommodation, arranges hospital care for acute illness, and helps contact family. If you cannot afford to return home, it can provide a ticket. Stays are usually no longer than ten days, with exceptions. Arrival and departure are voluntary; this is not detention and it does not provide cash. Tickets are for your registered hometown or place of residence, so decide which destination you need.

A Stronger evidence
No costQuick and easy
Money & work

Start with free public employment services and casual-work markets

Public agencies provide job matching, career guidance, policy advice, and employment or unemployment registration without charging. They are legally prohibited from running these services for commercial profit. Registering and posting information at public casual-work markets is also free. Complete unemployment registration at the same time; it is needed for unemployment benefits and employment-difficulty status.

A Stronger evidence
No costQuick and easy
Money & work

Apply for minimum living assistance if household income falls below the local threshold

Divide total household income by the number of household members. If it is below the local subsistence threshold and assets also meet the rules, you may qualify. At the end of 2024, the national average standards were RMB 798.1 per person per month in urban areas and RMB 593.9 in rural areas. Apply where your household is registered. Property, vehicles, savings, or children able to provide legally required support can affect eligibility.

A Stronger evidence
No costSome time
Money & work

Keep resident medical insurance active; hardship subsidies may cover some or all of the contribution

The individual pays from RMB 400 a year, with public funding adding around RMB 700 per person under the cited standards. Special-hardship recipients receive full support and dibao recipients a fixed amount. A lapse has consequences: late enrollment or a break in continuous coverage can mean a three-month period after paying during which benefits are unavailable, generally extended by another month for each additional year of interrupted coverage.

A Stronger evidence
Small costQuick and easy
Money & work

For serious illness, use insurance, major-illness cover, medical assistance, and out-of-area registration before considering debt

Register before treatment in another province so the eligible insurance portion can be settled directly at discharge, instead of advancing the full bill. Apply for medical assistance if the remaining amount is still beyond you. Employed people may have three to 24 months of statutory medical leave, depending on service history, with protection against specified dismissals during that period. Avoid online high-interest loans and expensive informal borrowing.

A Stronger evidence
No costSome time
Money & work

After registering as unemployed, check whether you qualify for employment-difficulty status

Recognition can bring a subsidy for social insurance you pay as a flexible worker, generally no more than two-thirds of your actual contribution and normally for up to three years. Employers hiring eligible people, or placing them in publicly funded jobs, can also receive contribution subsidies. Public-interest jobs have modest pay benchmarked to the local minimum wage and include social insurance, which can make them useful transitional work.

B Research support
No costSome time
Money & work

Check training, employment-traineeship, and social-insurance subsidies before paying for a course

Qualifying training followed by an approved certificate can receive a vocational-training subsidy, with the cited rules allowing up to three awards per person. Unemployed college graduates within two years of graduation and unemployed young people aged 16–24 may join employment traineeships with basic living support. Search your local human-resources bureau’s vocational-training subsidy catalog before paying for a course yourself.

A Stronger evidence
No costSome time
Money & work

Refuse job deposits, document confiscation, training loans, pyramid schemes, and predatory borrowing

An employer cannot keep your identity card, demand a deposit, or collect money under another label. An employment agency that fails to arrange a job must refund the placement fee. Chinese authorities specifically warn about recruitment used to sell training loans and schemes paying for recruiting more people. Courts do not protect private-loan interest above four times the one-year loan prime rate at contract formation, but the principal remains repayable.

A Stronger evidence
No costQuick and easy
Money & work

Cut the biggest essentials: shared monthly rent, home cooking, and subsidized meal services

In China’s 2025 household-spending figures, food, tobacco, and alcohol accounted for 29.3%, and housing for 21.7%—more than half together. Reducing these categories can have the largest effect. In the author’s experience, daily or hourly rooms cost more over a month than sharing a monthly rental, and cooking costs less than delivery. Ask whether a job includes meals and accommodation; those benefits can remove two major expenses.

B Research support
No costSome time
Money & work

A social-insurance contribution gap does not erase your pension history

Pension qualification counts cumulative contribution years, not uninterrupted years; a gap does not reset the clock. The cited Social Insurance Law sets a 15-year minimum at statutory retirement age, subject to the rules applicable when you retire. Retired employee medical-insurance coverage also depends on cumulative years, but local requirements vary; ask the insurance locality through 12393. Housing-purchase, household-registration, or points-based eligibility rules may separately require continuous contributions.

A Stronger evidenceHigh value
No costQuick and easy
Money & work

After prison, insolvency, or an enforcement blacklist, complete the procedures that let you move forward

Chinese law provides routes to assistance after release, removal from an enforcement blacklist when conditions are met, and limited debt relief. The revised Prison Law’s equality and resettlement provisions take effect on 1 November 2026. Juvenile convictions meeting the age and sentence criteria can be sealed, with exemption from reporting them for military enlistment or employment. Adult convictions are not generally sealed and must be reported where the law requires. A two-year period applies to specified judgment-defaulter listings, and qualifying removal situations require deletion within three working days.

A Stronger evidence
No costSome time
Money & work

Before serious illness develops, consider supplementary medical or critical-illness cover and check guaranteed renewal

Supplementary cover can help with costs left after basic medical insurance and, depending on the product, lost income while unable to work. Look for an explicit guaranteed-renewal clause. Without one, a product may be withdrawn or renewal terms may change the following year. Disclose health information truthfully; concealment can lead to a denied claim. Fund basic medical insurance first.

B Research support
Small costQuick and easy
Money & work

If there is truly nowhere to sleep, a 24-hour venue is only a one-night fallback; try a relief station first

An accessible airport or station waiting area may get you through one night with a toilet and a charging point, but no official data establish that this is safe. Keep valuables close, decline food or drinks from strangers, and avoid isolated corners. Do not sleep under bridges, beside rivers, or on construction sites. A relief station provides food and shelter free of charge and should be the first option.

C Experience & consensus
Small costQuick and easy

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