A high-level panel set up to ease Hong Kong's worsening poverty yesterday completed its two-year study with a call for a 'one-stop shop' for job seekers and better co-ordination on existing services.
The Commission on Poverty also suggested relaxing the asset limit for elderly people applying for welfare and setting up a children's development fund to help needy youngsters.
The current asset limit for a single elderly applicant is HK$34,000.
But the panel stopped short of suggesting a time limit on Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) payments, despite fears that an indefinite subsidy would discourage recipients from seeking work.
Releasing the 127-page final report, Financial Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen said the commission, which he chaired, had laid a good foundation for the next government to follow up.
'This report does not mark the end of the commission's work. It just signifies the beginning of the next stage of work,' he said in response to concerns the commission would be disbanded.
