HISTORY
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The Social Welfare Office was set up in 1946 and became an independent government department in 1958 with branches dealing with community services, the problems of the handicapped, family welfare, probation and public assistance. These services are provided both directly and also by grants to voluntary agencies, particularly the 91 organisations affiliated to the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, which was founded in 1946. A wider scheme of public relief, inaugurated in 1970, gives needy families cash grants in lieu of assist- ance in kind.
The rapid industrialisation of Hong Kong has demanded special attention to labour legislation. Hours of work for women and young people were regulated in 1959 and by the end of 1971 were reduced to eight a day and 48 a week. Industrial workers are guaranteed six days paid holiday annually and 12 days sick leave on half pay. All manual workers and non-manual workers earning less than $1,500 a month must be given four rest days each month. In addition, the Labour Department has conciliation machinery to deal with indus- trial disputes and great progress has been made with industrial health and safety measures. The development of an effective trade union movement has been relatively slow and local trade unions retain strong political affiliations.
Huge housing estates bear spectacular witness to the Government's interest in this field. It has been the policy to integrate refugees into the local community and after 50,000 squatters lost their flimsy homes in a Christmas day fire in 1953, it was decided to resettle them in multi-storey blocks built to minimum standards of accom- modation. These resettlement blocks have been gradually improved and standards of accommodation have been progressively raised as new housing estates have been constructed. Resettlement Estates housed 1,147,860 persons at the end of 1971. Low-cost housing estates have also been built for those with monthly incomes up to $500 and these accommodated 258,373 people at the end of 1971. The Government Housing Authority was set up in 1954 and had built nine estates housing 218,450 persons by the end of 1971, these estates being intended for those with a family income of $400 to $1,250 per month. Of government-aided voluntary housing societies, the Hong Kong Housing Society is the largest. Altogether about 43 per cent of the entire population lived in government built or aided housing at the end of 1971.
Post-war Hong Kong has developed into a dynamic industrial and commercial centre and its growth has been truly remarkable. Economic expansion has brought with it a rising standard of living
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