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BACKGROUND NOTE
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UNCLASSIFIED
HONG KONG SOCIAL SERVICES
1. The publicly declared aim of the Hong Kong Government is to
provide hong kong with social services that are at least as good
as the best available in any country in the region apart from
Japan. To this end, Government spending on the social services
has been growing rapidly in recent years and now represents over
40% of Government expenditure. In his speech at the opening of
the 1978/79 session of the Hong Kong legislative Council, the
Governor announced the long kong Government's programme for the
development of social services un to the mid-1980s. The present
position and future plans for the major sectors are as follows:
Housing
2. Hong Kong's population has increased from 600,000 in 1945 to
around 4.7 million today. Iroviding decent housing for all these
people in ilong Kong's constricted conditions is one of the Govern-
ment's major priorities. The Government housing programme was
started in 1954, and since then homes have been provided for over
2 million people. The prograrne accelerated with the creation of
the Housing Authority five years ago, and new homes are now being
produced at a rate which will reach about 35,000 units in 1979
enough for over 200,000 people. The Government estimate that by
the mid-1980s some two-thirds of the population (which by then
will be over 6 million) will be accommodated in public housing,
and the present back-log of applications will have been largely
eliminated.
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/Education