The Social Welfare Department announced on Monday (20th) that the Old Age Living Allowance will be consolidated in September this year. About 50,000 elderly people who are receiving ordinary allowances will receive an additional monthly payment of $995, which is the same as the high allowance seniors who receive $3,915.
The merger of Changshengjin was one of the ten new measures to improve people's livelihood by the government in January of the previous year. It said that it "focuses on responding to the demands of the society to take care of the grassroots and disadvantaged groups", but it was delayed until the Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced the implementation date before the end of her term of office. too long.
At that time, Hong Kong was in the midst of an anti-amendment turmoil, and people from all walks of life would interpret the government's actions to ease social grievances.
But no matter what the motivation is, the amount is still "to the throat but not to the lungs" compared with daily expenses, and it is not enough to respond to social demands.
Oxfam published the "Research on Poverty and Employment Issues for the Elderly and the Elderly" this month. The surveyed elderly people over 65 who are employed have an average monthly expenditure of about $4,220, of which housing and medical expenses are about $1,100, accounting for about $1,100. about a quarter.
Assuming that the expenses of retired seniors are similar or slightly lower, 3,915 yuan per person per month, plus the extra monthly or half-monthly payment in recent years, it can only be said to be just subsistence.
As long as housing and medical expenses are slightly higher, they will be unable to make ends meet and rely on their savings or support from their children and relatives.
However, savings and family support are not inevitable, and the savings of the elderly will decrease over time and will be eroded by soaring inflation.
On the other side, applying for comprehensive retirement plan for the elderly has to face strict asset income test, which discourages many elderly people in need.
Therefore, Changshengjin has become a safety net for the middle and lower classes, and the amount still needs to be increased.
It is not feasible to approve universal retirement, but the longevity allowance is also difficult to sustain
However, after the government made a promise to improve Changshengjin, it was tossed around because of internal "calculation", and it was only implemented from the beginning of the previous year to September this year.
In short, the government once planned to further increase the asset limit, but this would increase the annual recurrent expenditure by $5 billion. In June last year, it replied to the Legislative Council's question, saying that the overall financial situation of the government must be assessed before any results can be achieved.
Finally, according to a document released by the SWD on Monday, the government has only set the asset income limit for ordinary seniors in line with the high level, thus restraining the growth of the number of recipients, and the new recurrent expenditure is expected to increase by 1.4 billion yuan to 31.4 billion yuan.
The government is about to merge the high and ordinary longevity jins.
(file picture)
It is the government's responsibility to take into account its long-term financial commitment. In fact, it is unsustainable to rely on taxation alone to support the retirement expenses of the elderly.
Recalling that ten years ago, the private sector suggested that the government, employees and enterprises should contribute to the establishment of a universal retirement security without review, with the original intention of sharing government finances.
The government commissioned social welfare scholar Zhou Yongxin and his team to estimate that if the contribution starts in 2013, the starting point is 3,000 yuan, and the plan can last until at least 2041.
The government criticized Zhou Yongxin's examination-free plan as unfeasible, insisting on the longevity allowance with asset income restrictions, and encouraging the elderly to make good use of annuities, life insurance policy reverse mortgages and elderly mortgages to increase liquidity.
Ten years later, only a small portion of the elderly apply for annuities and elderly mortgages, and the expenditure on longevity allowance has increased significantly.
What's more, the refusal to raise taxes to support welfare and other government spending is creating a fiscal dilemma.
The high amount of longevity allowance is a poverty alleviation measure for the elderly in financial need, and cannot be compared with the universal pension.
(File photo/Photo by Zheng Zifeng)
Cash benefits are not a substitute for service
Criticism of the government's elderly care policy goes beyond the redistribution of longevity and other welfare subsidies, but also the lack of medical and care services.
Elderly people have to wait for several years for hospital specialist outpatient clinics for new diseases and subsidized residential care places for the elderly.
Although the number of dormitory places subsidized by the current government has increased by as much as 10% to about 32,000, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Law Chi-kwong, has admitted that he is only behind.
It is true that the government can even purchase services from the private market and non-profit-making organisations, provided that there is an adequate and quality supply in the market.
The fact is that some areas lack social welfare institutions that can take care of individual illnesses, and it is difficult for applicants to obtain services nearby even if they have financial assistance. Some services also require applicants to jointly pay thousands of yuan per month for accommodation, which is not light on families’ financial pressure.
Zhou Yongxin bluntly stated that medical and care spending has reached a "bottleneck period", and he is worried that government resources will be unsustainable.
The new government is about to take the stage, and the current Commissioner of Labour, Sun Yuk-han, will be promoted to the Director of the Labour and Welfare Bureau.
In the field of labor, Wong Kwok, a member of the Legislative Council of the Federation of Trade Unions, praised Sun Yuhan's "willingness and willingness to do things", and was willing to communicate with both employers and employees to solve problems.
It is hoped that the style of "willingness and willingness to do things" can be extended to improve the welfare of the elderly and lead the government to deal with the "old age tsunami".
Even if it takes time to discuss the universal retirement insurance, the government should take advantage of the fact that the working population is still at a high level, reform the public finances, lobby both employers and employees to increase tax collection, deal with longevity allowance and various elderly benefits and services, and share the responsibility of caring for the elderly. .
The reform of Changsheng Jin should be a transitional plan for all people to surrender insurance and eventually the minimum wage must be implemented. The market truly guarantees the wage earners to cancel the MPF hedging and finally pass one mile. There are more miles