Social News
Written by: Yuan Shu
2020-09-25 13:53
Last update date: 2020-09-25 13:53
The new crown pneumonia epidemic has been going on for a long time, and many low-income families have been burdened.
A group interviewed 250 Kwai Tsing residents in September and found that many low-income families were severely affected by the epidemic and encountered numerous difficulties in seeking support from various welfare policies, making it difficult to obtain appropriate support.
The group appealed to the authorities to relax various policies and apply to help citizens tide over the difficulties.
Ms. Chen's two children are studying, but because it is difficult to connect to the Internet in a rooftop house, they can only share one network cable with two other families.
(Online screenshot)
The Kwai Tsing Grassroots Family Rights Group, the Kwai Tsing Residents Group, and the Kwai Chung Residents Union Unemployment Assistance Group interviewed 250 Kwai Tsing residents from September 3 to September 18 this year, and 80% of them earn less than family households' monthly income For 55% of the median income, there are financial difficulties, and many of them do not have a high degree of mastery of current policies.
Three households in rooftop houses share one network cable. School children have difficulty learning online
Ms. Chen’s family of four lives in a rooftop house. The two children in the family are at the age of studying. However, there is no network cable at home and can only share the same network with the other two households. There are many obstacles to the online learning process and the line is often disconnected; when the network cannot be connected , The children will also be recorded as absent by the teacher. She said that although online classes are implemented throughout Hong Kong, the computer equipment is not adequately supported and many families are troubled.
Mr. Wang is engaged in the catering industry and has always applied for working family allowance subsidies, but he has not started enough after the epidemic and is not eligible for application.
(Online screenshot)
Epidemic income plummeted, underworked, difficult to apply for on-the-job allowance
Mr. Wang is engaged in the catering industry and has two children in his family who are in elementary school. In the past, he has applied for working family allowance to help the family's economy. However, the outbreak of the epidemic has affected the restaurant business and the working hours have plummeted. Sometimes, he could not start work for half a month. At the same time, the income was greatly reduced, and the application was not possible because the working hours did not reach 144 hours per month.
He said that the current life is too tight and believes that government policies have failed to respond to the needs of grassroots families.
A Mei, a public housing tenant, said that due to the epidemic, family income has been reduced by one third since the beginning of the year.
I have heard of the public housing rental assistance scheme earlier, but I don't know much about it.
Earlier, she had inquired about the relevant plan with the estate office about rent assistance, but the office staff sent her away as "not living enough for two years."
▼Reopening of premises and relaxation measures starting on September 25▼
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The group believes that the government should relax relevant support policies in the short-term, including the "independent application" qualifications for unemployment CSSA, temporary exemption of public housing tenants from applying for public housing rent assistance, and temporary relaxation of working family allowance working hours.
The group also called for the government to set up an "unemployment assistance fund" to directly support the public as soon as possible, so that the unemployed/underemployed citizens can directly receive subsidies to cope with the economic difficulties caused by the epidemic.
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