SOCIAL WELFARE
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Hong Kong Council of Social Service and are involved, together with the council and the department, in the annual review of the Five Year Plan for Social Welfare Development.
Social Security
Social security is provided by the Social Welfare Department under five schemes, namely the Public Assistance Scheme, the Special Needs Allowance Scheme, the Criminal and Law Enforcement Injuries Compensation Scheme, the Traffic Accident Victims Assistance Scheme and Emergency Relief.
The Public Assistance Scheme, which is means-tested but non-contributory, is designed to provide a basic level of income for individuals and families. To be eligible, a person must satisfy a one-year residence requirement, but the Director of Social Welfare is empowered to waive this in cases of genuine hardship. Apart from meeting the residential criterion, able-bodied unemployed persons aged between 15 and 59 are required to register with the Local Employment Service of the Labour Department to seek employment. Young people aged between 15 and 17 are eligible as dependents of their families unless they are orphans or persons without relatives.
The scales of assistance are kept under regular review and increased from time to time in line with the cost of living to maintain their purchasing power. The existing monthly basic rate is $450 for a single person; $325 for each of the first three eligible members of a family; $280 for each of the succeeding three; and $215 for each eligible member thereafter. In addition to the basic scale allowance, special supplements such as old age supplement, disability supplement and long-term supplement can be given. An old age supplement of $225 per month is given to those aged 60 years and over provided they are not in receipt of a special needs allowance or disability supplement. A disability supplement of $225 per month is payable to those recipients who are medically certified as partially disabled, with a 50 per cent or more loss of earning capacity and who are not already in receipt of an old age supplement or special needs allowance. An annual long-term supplement of $1,140 for a family, or $570 for a single person, is given to those who have received public assistance continuously for 12 months. This is to meet the extra cost of replacement of household wares and durable goods. Where applicable, special grants are given to cover rent, education expenses, special diets and other essential requirements.
To encourage self-help, recipients who are not expected to find work as a condition of receiving public assistance may retain their marginal earnings up to $255 a month. However, any earnings in excess of $425 a month are taken fully into account in assessing public assistance entitlements. At the end of 1983, the number of active public assistance cases was 54 820, compared with 50 111 in 1982. Expenditure on public assistance for the 1982-3 financial year totalled $407.8 million.
The Special Needs Allowance Scheme provides a flat rate allowance on a non-means- tested and non-contributory basis for the severely disabled and elderly persons aged 70 and over. Any person, regardless of age, who is severely disabled and has resided in Hong Kong continuously for at least one year before claiming the allowance is eligible for disability allowance. For old age allowance, any person aged 70 or over is eligible provided he has resided continuously in Hong Kong for at least five years immediately before claiming the allowance. The current rates of disability allowance and old age allowance are $450 and $225 a month respectively. The number of people drawing disability and old age allowance at the end of the year was 234 890, compared with 218 069 at the end of 1982. Expenditure on payments in the 1982–3 financial year was $622.9 million, an increase of $186.1 million over the previous year.