A Hong Kong lawmaker has called plans to mandate voluntary work for people on government welfare a “half-punitive” scheme, saying most welfare recipients have personal reasons why they are not working.
Hong Kong lawmaker Tik Chi-yuen, who represents the social welfare sector, in October 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
Speaking to HKFP on Monday, social welfare lawmaker Tik Chi-yuen said that not many subsidy recipients are “lazy.” Many may not be able to work because they have chronic illnesses, are caring for sick family members or could be battling mental health struggles, he said.
“Forcing people who [seem to be] capable of working is not right,” Tik said in Cantonese. “Everybody has their own circumstances.”
On Friday, the government said it planned to pilot a modification to the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance scheme, requiring all unemployed and able-bodied recipients aged between 15 and 59 to take up at least one hour of “unpaid work” on a weekly basis.
If they do not comply, the government will suspend one week of welfare payments.
The Social Welfare Department will run the pilot programme for two years starting from October 2025.
An elderly woman pushes a cart of cardboard. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun said on Sunday that around 16,000 CSSA recipients are healthy adults capable of working, and that the requirement was a way of helping them integrate into society.
“We don’t want CSSA recipients to feel like they are out of touch… We think the most viable way is to ask them to do volunteering work,” Sun said in Cantonese.
The pilot programme will replace the Employment Support Services initiative under the CSSA scheme, in which NGOs commissioned by the government provide information about job vacancies to CSSA recipients.
‘Instilling’ a work habit
Administered by the Social Welfare Department, the CSSA scheme provides subsidies to low-income individuals and families.
Depending on their age, health condition and if they are single or living with their family, recipients receive a fixed subsidy each month.
An able-bodied adult aged under 65 in a two-person family can receive HK$2,630, or HK$3,200, if they are a single parent or are the family’s carer. An adult under 65 not part of a family and who falls under the category of being “100% disabled” can receive HK$5,065.
Social Welfare Department. Photo: Kelly Ho/HKFP.
Tik told HKFP that while he supported the objective of helping CSSA recipients integrate into society, he was concerned that the requirement was “half-punitive.”
“The focus should be on providing counselling and training to them,” he said.
He said he hoped authorities would not strictly mandate the requirement across the board. If CSSA recipients do not meet the volunteering requirement, the authorities should consider them on a case-by-case basis and understand why they were not able to volunteer.
The pilot programme is “expected to facilitate participants’ integration into society through enriching participants’ work experience and instilling in them a work habit,” the Social Welfare Department wrote in a Legislative Council paper.
By the end of October, the Social Welfare Department had on file 196,477 CSSA cases. They include categories such as ill-health, permanent disability and low-earnings cases.
