Timmy Sung reports
Eligible low-income families will be able to apply for a monthly allowance as early as May next year, as part of a HK$3 billion government programme designed to tackle the problems faced by the working poor.
The government announced on Tuesday that it would receive applications in phases from May for the Low-Income Working Family Allowance – which was first proposed in the 2014 policy address. Families of four or more people will be allowed to apply first. The allowance will be backdated to November.
Applicants will have to meet requirements on the amount of hours they work each month, and come under monthly income and asset limits set according to the number of people in the household.
Those who earn less than median monthly income may apply for a full-rate basic allowance of HK$600, but are required to work at least 144 hours a month. Those who work more than 192 hours a month can receive an allowance of HK$1,000.
For example, a family of four that meets the requirements would be eligible for a maximum allowance of HK$2,600 a month.
The Secretary for Welfare Matthew Cheung said the scheme could promote self-reliance, as those who claim Comprehensive Social Security Assistance will not be eligible for the allowance.
He said it could benefit about 710,000 people in over 200,000 households, including 170,000 eligible children. He estimated the scheme could cut the overall poverty rate by 2 percentage points, and the child poverty rate by 4.2 percentage points.
"We're talking about a very important policy measure to tackle working poverty and also, at the same time, intergenerational poverty," Cheung said. "So we are talking about a two pronged policy measure to tackle the problem of poverty overall."
The government announced on Tuesday that it would receive applications in phases from May for the Low-Income Working Family Allowance – which was first proposed in the 2014 policy address. Families of four or more people will be allowed to apply first. The allowance will be backdated to November.
Applicants will have to meet requirements on the amount of hours they work each month, and come under monthly income and asset limits set according to the number of people in the household.
Those who earn less than median monthly income may apply for a full-rate basic allowance of HK$600, but are required to work at least 144 hours a month. Those who work more than 192 hours a month can receive an allowance of HK$1,000.
For example, a family of four that meets the requirements would be eligible for a maximum allowance of HK$2,600 a month.
The Secretary for Welfare Matthew Cheung said the scheme could promote self-reliance, as those who claim Comprehensive Social Security Assistance will not be eligible for the allowance.
He said it could benefit about 710,000 people in over 200,000 households, including 170,000 eligible children. He estimated the scheme could cut the overall poverty rate by 2 percentage points, and the child poverty rate by 4.2 percentage points.
"We're talking about a very important policy measure to tackle working poverty and also, at the same time, intergenerational poverty," Cheung said. "So we are talking about a two pronged policy measure to tackle the problem of poverty overall."
- More on this story in Newswrap
- http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1225624-20151124.htm
