The CSSA payment is increased by about 40% in 10 years. The government will implement a one-time improvement of CSSA measures as soon as possible

Social News

Written by: Yuan Shu

2020-06-17 14:09

The New Crown epidemic continued for more than half a year, and the unemployment rate in Hong Kong was high. The government announced yesterday (16th) that the unemployment rate from March to May was 5.9%, a new 15-year high. The number of people receiving CSSA due to unemployment has also increased in the past few months. There are views that the adjustment of grants and special allowances under the CSSA Scheme often fails to keep up with the actual living expenses of CSSA recipients.

According to the Labor and Welfare Bureau, the government will adjust the rent allowance and CSSA in accordance with the established mechanism. In addition, the Finance Committee has previously approved the 2019 Policy Address, which contains a number of measures to improve CSSA. The government will implement it as soon as possible. The increase in the maximum amount of rent allowance is only a one-time special arrangement.

In response to a written inquiry from the Legislative Council, the Labour and Welfare Bureau stated that the Government adjusts the CSSA amount every year according to the changes in the established mechanism, and adjusts the level of the maximum rent allowance according to the CPI A private housing gold index. The amount of CSSA has been increased by 40% from 2011 to 2020 according to the opportunity.

In the 2019 Policy Address, there are a number of measures to improve CSSA, including increasing the maximum amount of rent allowance by approximately 6% to 31% according to the number of qualified members. The relevant recommendations have been approved by the Finance Committee earlier, and the government will implement them as soon as possible. However, the Labor and Welfare Bureau stated that the relevant measures are only one-off special arrangements. When the government raises the CSSA rent allowance, it needs to carefully consider the possible chain reaction on the private rental market, so as not to cause a corresponding increase in the rent of the rental units at the grassroots level. However, the government will continue to adjust the maximum level of rent allowances in accordance with the established mechanism next year.      

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