Jobs at hand in elderly care

January 29, 2013

Elderly care services can provide numerous working opportunities for young people, Secretary for Labour & Welfare Matthew Cheung says.
 
Speaking on the Federation of Youth Groups’ online@M21 website today, Mr Cheung encouraged job seekers to look at this sector, as it covers a wide range of occupations, such as physiotherapy, nursing, and other jobs.
 
On other issues, Mr Cheung said the Government’s policy of promoting "ageing in place as the core, institutional care as back-up" meets the aspirations of most elderly people.
 
Besides providing more than 1,700 new subsidised residential care places for the elderly, the Government will also develop complementary measures by increasing day-care places and launching the Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly pilot scheme, which ties in with the “money follows the user” approach.
 
Mr Cheung said he is confident the Old Age Living Allowance to be launched in April will help improve the livelihood of seniors. The Government has allocated $6.2 billion a year to the allowance, bringing social welfare spending to 19% of the Government budget.
 
He said the Government will form a special committee on standard working hours by March. He hopes various sectors of the community can make use of the platform to conduct informed and in-depth discussions on working hours, build consensus, and identify the way forward.
 
Mr Cheung also said the poverty line will be set by the end of this year, and more details will be announced after the Commission on Poverty reaches consensus.