Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ9: Statistics on CSSA cases
Following is a question by the Hon Lau Chin-shek and a written reply by the
Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council
today (November 23):
Regarding the cases in the "low earnings" category under the Comprehensive
Social Security Assistance (CSSA) Scheme, will the Government inform this
Council of:
(a) the total number of household members (excluding the applicants) in such
cases, together with a breakdown by gender and age profile (in groups each
covering five years);
(b) a breakdown of such cases by the applicants' gender, age profile (in groups
each covering five years), educational levels and employment earnings (in groups
each covering $500), as well as the trades they are engaged in, their positions,
the amounts of CSSA payments they receive each month and the numbers of months
they have been receiving CSSA payments consecutively; and
(c) the current number of CSSA cases in the "low earnings" category which were
transferred from other categories?
Reply:
Madam President,
Information regarding "low earnings" cases under the CSSA Scheme as collated
from records of the Social Welfare Department (SWD) is set out below:
(a) As at the end of October 2005, there were 64,419 recipients under the "low
earnings" category. 15,037 were low earning recipients, and the remaining 49,382
were their family members. A breakdown of the gender and age profiles of the
family members (in groups each covering five years) is shown in Annex I. Since
the low earning applicants could be members of the CSSA households, we consider
that the analysis should not be premised on the statistics in relation to the
applicants. Also, under the current system, employable adults with monthly
earnings less than $1,430 are classified as unemployed recipients whereas those
earning $1,430 or over are classified as low earning recipients.
(b) As regards the 15,037 low earning recipients under the "low earnings"
category, a breakdown of their gender and age profiles (in groups each covering
five years), education levels, employment earnings (in groups each covering
$500), occupations, average monthly CSSA assistance payable and the number of
months that they have been receiving CSSA payments on a continuous basis is
shown in Annex II. The analysis shows that 45% of the low earning recipients
under the "low earnings" category were aged between 40 and 49 and 56 % of them
had received education at primary school level or below. 32% of the "low
earnings" cases had been receiving CSSA payments for more than 5 years.
(c) As at end 2004, 4,230 low earnings cases were transferred from cases
categorised as "unemployment", "single parent" and "other CSSA case categories"
as at end 2003. A breakdown of the change of nature of these cases is shown in
Annex III.
Ends/Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Issued at HKT 13:12
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Annex I, II & III to LCQ9