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Wednesday, September 28, 1977

H.K. MONTHLY DIGEST OF STATISTICS

FOR JULY ON SALE

The July issue of the Hong Kong Monthly Digest of Statistics on sale

today contains a special article entitled "A Review of the Public Assistance

Scheme and its Recipients."

The article takes a look at recent experience of the Public Assistance

Scheme and presents an analysis of payment and certain characteristics of recipients.

It shows that the caseload, number of persons benefiting and the total expenditure haye all increased substantially since June 1, 1972 when the scheme

was converted into a full cash assistance basis.

According to the Review, in December 1973, the caseload was 25,009. The number of people who had applied for public assistance in the 1973-74 financial

year was 49,000 and payment was $45.4 million.

During the financial year 1975-76, however, the number of people

receiving public assistance reached a record 133,400, with a peak caseload of

55,620 registered in December 1975.

Expenditure to meet this demand for public assistance during 1975-76

financial year was $163.3 million.

But in December last year, the caseload declined to 49,899 and the

number of people receiving public assistance in the 1976-77 financial year also

dropped to 125,200, with a subsequent decline in expenditure to $147.6 million,

the Review shows.

The article is a series of reviews on special topics of interest to

the public published every three months by the Census and Statistics Department.

The Hong Kong Monthly Digest of Statistics is obtainable at $6 per

copy from the Government Publications Centre on the Ground Floor of the General

Post Office Building.

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