Consultative Documents

Narrow the gap between rich and poor

We hope to achieve through more proactive measures......

Allow families to leave poverty behind and enjoy a dignified lifestyle

Greatly reduce the gap between rich and poor and make our society a more equitable one

Satisfy the needs of the poorest sectors of society, eliminate discrimination and allow them to integrate into society

Provide excellent retirement facilities for the elderly and make preparations for the aging of the local population

Proposals from society

1 Provide seniors with a dignified retirement

Improving the economic situation for seniors

1) Improving the current welfare system

Lower the age of eligibility for Old Age Allowance (Fruit money) to 65.
Lower the age of eligibility of certain welfare measures such as elderly health care vouchers to 60-64 years of age.
Raise the asset limit for Old Age Living Allowance.

2) Improve the MPF system

-Quickly implement the government’s plans to cancel the MPF offset mechanism.
Use the “Funding Pool Scheme” to cancel the MPF offset mechanism.
Improve the MPF system by increasing the choices of investment products for MPF funds, quickly implementing the MPF full portability and requiring trustees to charge a fixed administrative fee.

3) Implement a three-pronged contribution-based universal retirement protection system

Use a “flat-rate defined-benefit scheme” system to promote universal retirement protection. Allow each senior aged 65 and over to receive retirement funds each month.
Utilize the principle of “for each according to need” to promote universal retirement protection and allow retirees with less assets and finances to receive greater retirement payments.
Utilize the “MPF contribution standard” to promote universal retirement protection and allow those who contribute more to their MPF receive greater retirement payments.

Provide comprehensive nursing services and help the elderly in their daily lives

Implement a care insurance system and have the government shoulder some of the necessary funding. Ensure that senior nursing services and live-in nursing services offer a stable standard of service and also ensure that these services can operate in the long term.
Continue to open up the market for senior nursing services and enable more private organizations to participate
Develop a senior-centred “smart elderly alert” home system.
Research how to construct specialized elderly housing units for rent and in PRH housing.
Provide support to seniors who require care by increasing the funds provided by the “Living Allowance for Carers of Elderly Persons from Low-income Families” and the “Living Allowance for Low-income Carers of Persons with Disabilities”.
Improve the current arrangements for welfare support across borders and support Hong Kong seniors who retire on the Mainland.

2 Support low-income working families

-Establish an unemployment assistance.
Reform the MPF system and add government funding to it. Allow MPF funds to act as unemployment insurance.
Add a “144 working hours or less” provision into the existing Working Family Allowance to support dismissed or underemployed workers.
Set up a job-sharing system and encourage the market to promote job-sharing through government promotion and through tax allowances and other incentives to the market.

3 Ease the burden on single parent families

Set up more childcare centres, increase the number of spots in them and extend their operating hours. Expand the current ACAP scheme.
Promote family-friendly policies such as promoting a 5-day workweek for employers and flexible working hours. Quickly promote and implement the 17 day paid leave system.
Support single mothers to re-enter the workforce through setting up more online platforms for women’s employment and encourage businesses to leave spots open for women re-entering the workforce.
Set up an organization to investigate alimony payments and help divorced families who fall into financial hardship due to alimony payment being in arrears to leave poverty.

4 Provide more opportunities for ethnic minorities

Increase the employment support, training and guidance provided to ethnic minority youth. Open up employment counseling and support classes for ethnic minority youth and train up organizations (such as the Vocational Training Council) to set up courses targeted at ethnic minority students.
Support employment counseling services for ethnic minorities by setting up an “ethnic minority employment support scheme”. Utilize funding from the scheme to encourage employers to employ ethnic minorities and provide workplace training for them. Set up an ethnic minority languages employment consultation hotline to help them understand labour laws and ordinances.
Establish specialized “Chinese as a Second Language” classes for non-Chinese students and produce a curriculum, teaching objectives, teaching materials as well as both teaching and evaluation methods and make them fit the newly established public exams.

5 Support the disabled and chronic disease patients

-Set up a “disabled persons employment quota” system and require large-scale businesses with above a certain number of employees to hire a set minimum of disabled persons.
The government should improve the “Work Orientation and Placement Scheme” and find ways to reduce both profits and salary taxes on businesses hiring disabled persons so as to encourage employers to hire more disabled persons.
Establish a centralized application system and database for employers to find disabled persons looking for work.
Reduce the medical costs for chronic disease patients by setting up a “chronic disease patient’s tax allowance” and a “caretakers of disabled persons subsidy”. Regularly review the types of medicines that can be funded by the “Samaritan Fund” and the “Community Care Fund”.

DAB proposals for further discussion

1

Reduce the age of eligibility for the OAA to 65 and put all of Hong Kong’s seniors into the welfare system.

2

Allow seniors aged 60-64 to get a new silver age card and allow them to use elderly health care vouchers while encouraging businesses to provide discounts for them.

3

Set up a “care insurance system” with both individual and government funding contributions and improve the standard of such care services. Allow seniors to access reasonable care and housing services.

4

Set up an unemployment assistance and support unemployed persons for at least 3 months at no less than $6,000/month.

5

Set up a “disabled persons employment quota” system and require large-scale businesses with above a certain number of employees to hire a set minimum of disabled persons.

6

Set up a “chronic disease patient’s tax allowance” and ease the financial burden on their families.

7

Set up more childcare centres, increase the number of spots in them and extend their operating hours. Use empty units on lower floors of PRH housing estates throughout the HKSAR and rent them out at low rates to related organizations to provide evening childcare services.

8

Establish specialized “Chinese as a Second Language” classes for non-Chinese students in accordance to their Chinese language level.