§7 · 22 tips

How to get by when you have no money

If you lose your job, aren't paid your wages, or run out of money, what can you claim and where can you get help?

Tips from this section that apply in the United States.

Don't just send out resumes; use a systematic job search method: learn the techniques, set a target and get people to help

People who took part in job-search coaching had 2.67 times the odds of finding a job compared with those who did not. What works is this: learn specific job-search techniques, explain yourself clearly, set a clear target, take the initiative, and ask people for help. In practice, asking for help means asking people you know to refer you.

Moderate value
Evidence A
Saves money

Don't pay a deposit, don't hand over your ID, don't sign a “training loan” (培训贷), don't join a pyramid scheme (传销), don't borrow at loan-shark rates

An employer cannot hold your ID card, collect a deposit, or collect money under any other name. If an agency did not get you a job, it must refund its fee. Training loans (培训贷), where you pay for training before you can start work, and pyramid schemes (传销), where payment depends on recruiting people, are both scams the authorities have named. For interest above 4 times the one-year LPR (loan prime rate), a court will not support the part above that, but you still repay the principal.

High value
Evidence A
Saves money

Cut housing and food to the minimum: rent a shared room by the month instead of by the day, and cook for yourself or use a subsidized meal canteen instead of delivery

In 2025, food made up 29.3% of average per-person spending nationwide and housing 21.7%. Together they are over half, so cutting these two is the most effective. In the author's experience, a daily-rate room or hourly room, converted to a month, costs more than a shared room, and cooking yourself is cheaper than ordering delivery. When you look for work, ask whether food and housing are provided; a job that provides them wipes out these two big items.

High value
Evidence B
Saves money

If you truly have nowhere to sleep, a 24-hour place is only an emergency fix for one night; go to a rescue station first

The waiting area of an airport or train station can get you through a night, with toilets and power outlets, but there are no official data saying it is safe. A rescue station (救助站) has staff on duty 24 hours a day and will help you first even if you come at night. In winter some places also open temporary cold shelters. For people who don't want to enter a station, patrol staff will also give out food and cold-weather clothing.

Moderate value
Evidence B
Saves money

Mainland China only 18 tips

These tips describe mainland-China rules and do not apply in the United States; they are here for people living in China.

Apply online for unemployment insurance benefits as soon as you lose your job
If you and your employer have together paid in for a full 1 year, and you did not quit of your own accord, you can collect benefits once you have registered as unemployed. With 1 year but under 5 years of payments, you get up to 12 months. With 5 years but under 10, up to 18 months. With 10 years or more, up to 24 months. While you are collecting, unemployment insurance pays your employee medical insurance (职工医保) premiums for you.
If your wages are unpaid, first complain to labor inspection, then apply for labor arbitration; both routes are free and most cases have a result within a few months
Neither route costs anything. First call 12333 (the labor and social security hotline) or go to the labor inspection office (劳动监察) of the human resources and social security bureau (人社局) to file a complaint. Once the case is accepted, the inspection must be finished within 60 working days, and the company can be ordered to pay by a deadline; if it does not, it owes an extra 50% to 100% in compensation. If that fails, apply for labor arbitration (劳动仲裁), which must close the case within 45 days. But a closed case is not the same as money in your hand: if the company has no assets or the boss has run off, you may win and still not get paid.
If you can't afford a lawsuit, apply for legal aid (法律援助); cases over unpaid wages, family support payments and work injuries are covered by design
You can apply for free legal aid for unpaid wages, support payments from family members, social insurance or dibao (低保, minimum living allowance) benefits, and losses suffered when you acted bravely to help others. Call 12348 (the legal aid hotline) or go to your local legal aid center (法律援助中心). You no longer have to go back to your hometown to get proof of financial hardship; an honest statement from you is enough. A lawyer is always assigned to defendants who may face the death penalty and to defendants who are blind, deaf, mute or under 18.
Go to a rescue station (救助站) when you have nowhere else to turn; it provides food, a bed and a ticket home
A rescue station gives you meals and a place to sleep, takes you to a hospital if you are sick, and helps you contact your family. If you have no money to get home, it gives you a ticket. You can generally stay no more than 10 days. You come and go of your own free will; it is not detention, and it does not hand out cash. The ticket is issued to the place where your household registration (户籍) is or where you live, so decide before you go where you want to end up.
Use free public employment services and day-labor markets (零工市场) to find work, not paid agencies
Public bodies such as employment service centers (就业服务中心) and human resources markets (人力资源市场) charge nothing for job referrals, career guidance, policy advice, or unemployment and employment registration. The law expressly forbids them from making money from these services. Registering and posting information at a day-labor market is also free. While you are there, do your unemployment registration (失业登记) too: you need it to collect unemployment benefits and to be recognized as a person with employment difficulties (就业困难人员).
Apply for temporary assistance (临时救助) as soon as something sudden hits
If something sudden happens to your family, such as a fire, a car accident or a family member falling seriously ill, and your basic living is overwhelmed for the moment, you can apply for temporary assistance at your township government (乡镇政府) or subdistrict office (街道办). You do not have to be on dibao (低保, minimum living allowance) already. It is mostly a one-time payment, and the amount varies a great deal from place to place.
Apply for dibao (低保, minimum living allowance) if your income is below the local dibao line
Divide your household's total income by the number of people. If the result is below the local dibao line and your family's property also meets the rules, you can apply. At the end of 2024, the national average dibao line was 798.1 CNY per person per month in cities and 593.9 CNY in the countryside. What you are paid once approved is the dibao line minus the monthly income of each person in the household. If you own a home, a car or savings, or if your children are able to support you, you may not be approved.
If you hold a disability certificate, apply for the two disability subsidies (残疾人两项补贴)
Disabled people in dibao (低保, minimum living allowance) households can receive a living subsidy. Those with a Level 1 or Level 2 disability who also need long-term care can receive a nursing subsidy. You can get both at the same time. Each province sets its own amounts and they differ a lot, so ask your subdistrict office (街道) for the specifics. Bring your second-generation disability certificate (第二代残疾人证) and apply once at the subdistrict office or township government (乡镇).
Keep up your resident medical insurance (居民医保) at 400 CNY a year without a gap; households in hardship can get a reduction or waiver
An individual pays from 400 CNY a year, and the government adds a subsidy of about 700 CNY per person. People in extreme hardship (特困人员) have the full amount paid for them, and dibao (低保, minimum living allowance) recipients get a fixed amount of help. A lapse has a cost: if you missed the annual enrollment period or did not pay continuously, then after you pay up there is a 3-month stretch in which your medical bills are not reimbursed, and as a rule each additional 1 year of lapse adds 1 more month.
With a serious illness, go through basic medical insurance, serious-illness insurance, medical assistance and out-of-province filing in that order, and stay away from online loans
The order is fixed. Before being admitted to a hospital in another province, file first through the official account called National Healthcare Security Administration (国家医保局), and you can settle directly when you are discharged without paying the full amount up front. If you still cannot afford what is left after reimbursement, apply for medical assistance (医疗救助) at your township government or subdistrict office. If you are employed, you have a medical treatment period (医疗期) of 3 to 24 months depending on how long you have worked, and during it the company cannot dismiss you. Stay away from online loans and private high-interest loans.
Replace a lost ID card right away, and get a temporary ID card first if you need one urgently
A replacement card is issued within 60 days from the day you hand in the form. If you need ID urgently, apply on the spot for a temporary ID card (临时身份证), which is issued within 3 days and is valid for 3 months. Without an ID card you cannot look for work, find lodging, open an account or collect subsidies. It is the prerequisite for every procedure.
After unemployment registration, seek recognition as a person with employment difficulties (就业困难人员) to get a social insurance subsidy or a public-benefit job (公益性岗位)
Once you are recognized, you can get a subsidy if you pay your own social insurance: as a rule no more than two-thirds of what you actually pay, for up to 3 years. If you are hired by an employer or placed in a public-benefit job, the employer's share of social insurance is also subsidized. Wages in public-benefit jobs follow the local minimum wage. These jobs do not pay much, but they come with social insurance and suit a transition period. The social insurance subsidy is mostly paid back after you pay, so you have to front the money first.
While unemployed, claim the vocational training subsidy, the employment internship subsidy and the social insurance subsidy, and don't pay for training classes yourself
You should not have to pay for training yourself. If you take part in training and obtain the required certificate, you get a vocational training subsidy (职业培训补贴), and one person can receive it at most 3 times. College graduates who have not found work within two years of graduating, and unemployed young people aged 16 to 24, can join an employment internship (就业见习) and receive basic living expenses during it. Before signing up for a class, check the “vocational training subsidy catalog” (职业培训补贴目录) on your local human resources and social security bureau (人社局) website, and don't pay for a class out of your own pocket.
Get in the queue for public rental housing (公租房) if your housing is a problem
You need to meet all three conditions: you have no home locally, or your living space is below the standard; your income and property are below the standard; and, if you are a migrant worker, you have held stable local employment for the required number of years. The waiting period is published locally. This is help for later and will not solve something urgent, but waiting in line costs nothing, and the earlier you sign up the sooner your turn comes.
Don't panic about a gap in social insurance payments: pensions count cumulative years, and medical insurance can be made up under the rules
A pension is calculated on cumulative years, not continuous years. A gap does not reset the count to zero, and once you reach retirement age with 15 cumulative years you can collect a monthly pension. If you have paid employee medical insurance (职工医保) for enough years, you do not have to pay after retirement; the required number of years differs from place to place, so call 12393 and ask the place where you are insured. What a gap really affects is eligibility that requires continuous payment, such as buying a home, getting local household registration, or earning points.
If you have served time, gone bankrupt or been put on the failure-to-pay list (失信名单), the law gives you a way to start over; finish the paperwork first
People released after serving a sentence may not be discriminated against in employment, schooling or social insurance, and the government helps those in hardship find a place to settle. If you were under 18 when you committed the crime and were sentenced to 5 years or less, the record is sealed and you do not have to report it when joining the army or looking for work. The failure-to-pay list (失信名单) lasts 2 years, and once the money is paid back the court must remove your name within 3 working days. An adult's criminal record is not sealed, and you must report it honestly when joining the army or applying for a job.
Before a serious illness, add a one-year medical insurance or critical illness insurance policy on top of basic medical insurance, and look for the words “guaranteed renewable”
This kind of insurance covers the part you still have to pay after basic medical insurance has reimbursed its share, and also the loss from time off work. Before you buy, look for the words “guaranteed renewable” (保证续保): without them, the policy may be discontinued or get more expensive next year. Be honest about your health condition, because hiding something can get a claim denied. Pay into basic medical insurance first, then consider this.
If you were not paid, first work out who employed you: unlicensed workshops and labor contractors still fall under labor inspection; only private work for a household or an individual goes to court
At a workshop or shop with no business license, you can still file a labor inspection complaint or apply for labor arbitration over unpaid wages, and the owner can be pursued personally. If a labor contractor subcontracted work on a construction site and wages are owed, the general contractor or the project owner pays. Only private work for a household or an individual, such as being a nanny, does not count as a labor dispute, and there you sue in court.