China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs issued yesterday the social service development statistics bulletin for 2015. This annual bulletin presents a wide array of statistics on social work and social services in China. By the end of 2015, according to the annual joint provincial inspection, there were 1.765 million social service institutions with a year-on-year growth of 5.8%; 13.089 million social staff with a year-on-year growth of 4.6%; total fixed assets of 909.9 billion yuan with a year-on-year growth of 26.1%; and an expenditure of 493.64 billion yuan on social service work, with a year-on-year growth of 11.9%.
Social work in China increased on a large scale in 2015, including social services provided both with and without accommodation. The first category includes services for housing the elderly, mental health patients, children in need of protection and more. The second category includes support for the old and disabled, child welfare and adoption registration, social aid (subsistence allowances in urban and rural areas), disaster prevention and reduction, philanthropy, subsidies for entitled groups and community services.
Membership organizations and other social services also witnessed a boom in 2015. Social organizations brought increased employment opportunities and promoted economic growth, while self-governance organizations at the community level allowed more residents to enjoy the right to vote.
