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Social Welfare

Comprehensive Social Security Assistance

The non-contributory CSSA scheme is means-tested and applicants must satisfy a residence requirement. People in financial hardship receive cash assistance to meet basic needs. As at end-2017, there were 232,134 CSSA cases involving 336,681 beneficiaries. Total expenditure was about $21.7 billion in 2017, an increase of 1 per cent over the previous year.

The Portable CSSA Scheme allows elderly people who have received CSSA continuously for at least one year to continue receiving assistance in Guangdong or Fujian province if they retire there.

Employment Assistance

An Integrated Employment Assistance Programme for Self-reliance under the department helps unemployed able-bodied CSSA recipients aged 15 to 59 and single parents and child carers on CSSA with their youngest child aged 12 to 14 to find employment and become self-reliant. Up till end-2017, 87,131 CSSA recipients had taken part in the programme.

Social Security Allowance

The non-contributory SSA Scheme comprises the Old Age Allowance (OAA); Disability Allowance (DA), consisting of Normal DA and Higher DA; Old Age Living Allowance (OALA) and the Guangdong Scheme. OAA and DA provide non-means-tested cash allowances to elderly people aged 70 or above and people with severe disabilities respectively. OALA supplements the living expenses of elderly people aged 65 or above who have financial needs. The Guangdong Scheme provides monthly OAA to elderly people aged 65 or above who choose to live in Guangdong.

The government announced four new initiatives in January: relaxing the OALA asset limits from 1 May to benefit more elderly people with financial needs; rolling out a Higher OALA in 2018 for elderly people with greater financial needs; for one year from 1 July, repeating a special arrangement under the Guangdong Scheme that exempts elderly people residing in Guangdong from the requirement of having lived in Hong Kong continuously for at least one year before applying for the scheme; and introducing a Fujian Scheme in 2018 to provide monthly OAA for elderly people who choose to live in Fujian.

There were 883,000 SSA recipients as at end-2017, with a total expenditure of about $23.2 billion during the year, an 8.2 per cent increase over 2016.

Relief Measure

In June, the government provided one additional month's standard-rate payment to CSSA recipients and one additional month's allowance to recipients of SSA, Low-income Working Family Allowance and the Work Incentive Transport Subsidy Scheme.

Accident Compensation

The non-means-tested Criminal and Law Enforcement Injuries Compensation Scheme offers financial help to those injured, or to their dependants in the case of death, as a result of a crime of violence or by a law enforcement officer using a weapon in the execution of his duty. It paid

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