Single-parent payment faces the axe
Welfare director wants supplement scrapped, raising alarm of parents' advocates
A single-parent welfare supplement of $225 a month should eventually be scrapped, the director of social welfare believes.
Paul Tang Kwok-wai's remarks have fuelled the controversy over the government's proposal to push single parents back into the workforce. Under the plan, released last month, single parents with a child aged between six and 15 would have to earn at least $1,430 a month to keep the supplement.
And they would have to at least try to find a job if they wanted to keep receiving welfare.
'Single-parent families are already receiving more CSSA than ordinary families. A single parent with two kids receives about $9,000 a month,' Mr Tang said. He added that the proposal was a 'reasonable' incentive to encourage single parents to work.
Mr Tang said the proposal was a response to an Audit Commission report a few years ago, which questioned the rationale behind the supplement, introduced in 1995.
'We were criticised by the auditor over it. In fact, it is questionable if it should be kept in the long run.'
But critics of the proposal, including many legislators and welfare-sector representatives, have questioned whether it is realistic to expect parents to find a 32-hour-a-month job with an hourly rate of $45 to qualify for the supplement.
The welfare director said he would not expect all single-parent applicants to meet the criteria.
'We have to draw a line somewhere. Even if the parents do not manage to earn $1,430 a month, at least we hope to see an increasing number joining the job market.'
Mr Tang said the proposal might first be introduced in certain districts or to particular age groups. He said the plan was not aimed at cost-cutting, pointing out that no money would be saved in the next three to five years because of the investment needed in extra childcare and job-matching services.
Figures released by the Social Welfare Department showed that the number of single parents on welfare had risen from 6,000 in 1993-94 to more than 37,000 in 2003-04.
Sze Lai-shan of the Society for Community Organisation urged the government to take into account the 30 per cent cut in the amount of overall welfare benefits for families of three or more since 1999.
'The supplement means a lot to the parents. The amount is all some families can afford for their meals for two or three weeks,' she said.
Jessie Yu Sau-chu, chief executive of Hong Kong Single Parents Association, said the primary purpose of the supplement was to pay for childcare: 'We agree that not everyone needs the supplement. But ... whoever needs childcare services when they are working has the right to be given financial assistance.'
