Chief Executive Carrie Lam has outlined three areas to be reviewed to better support elderly Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the Executive Council meeting today, Mrs Lam noted the Government was very committed to providing for these welfare recipients, saying that raising the eligible age for elderly CSSA is in line with the trend of extending the retirement age to 65 and the improved life expectancy of the Hong Kong population.

"I hope people understand the policy rationale behind this measure. It is not about cutting the expenditure of CSSA. It is not about not helping ageing people. It is quite the opposite. We want to help these able-bodied 60 to 64 to be able to remain in the labour force as long as possible.

“But I would confess that in the actual implementation, we could have done better in terms of making sure that all the necessary support measures are in place, the financial assistance would not be too different from what they are receiving if there were under the old age recipient category. So over the last two weeks, we have been introducing these additional measures."

She said if the Government wants to encourage able-bodied retirees to work, then a review of the effectiveness of the existing intensive employment assistance services - which are run by non-governmental organisation teams - will have to be carried out.

Mrs Lam also noted that able-bodied CSSA recipients would need an incentive to work, so it is time to review the maximum ceiling of disregarded earnings as the current ceiling of $2,500 was set around 20 years ago.

The third measure to be reviewed would be the Government’s special grants and supplements, to ascertain whether they should be extended to those aged 60 to 64 or even other age groups.