Secretary for Labour & Welfare Chris Sun today said that allowance rates under the Working Family Allowance (WFA) Scheme will be increased starting from the next claim month, helping to alleviate the burden on grassroots working families.

The rates for household and child allowances under the WFA Scheme will be increased by 15% across the board with effect from the claim month of April, benefitting all households receiving the allowance. Households submitting their WFA applications starting from May will benefit from the new rates.

Furthermore, after the passage of the Appropriation Bill 2024, the Working Family Allowance Office of the Working Family & Student Financial Assistance Agency will disburse a one-off extra allowance to WFA recipients as proposed in the Budget. The extra allowance is expected to be disbursed one month after the bill’s passage at the earliest.

Households which made WFA applications during the applicable period that were eventually approved are eligible for the one-off extra allowance. The applicable period is from the first day of the month in which the bill is passed by the Legislative Council to the date of the bill’s passage, and the six calendar months before that month. For applications submitted by post, the date of the post-stamp is the application date.

To be eligible for the extra allowance, new applicants or previous WFA recipients who have yet to submit applications during the applicable period should submit applications on or before the date of passage of the bill.

The extra allowance is equal to one half of the average monthly allowance in approved months in a recipient's most recently submitted WFA application, provided it was submitted within the applicable period and eventually approved, with the amount varying from case to case.

If a WFA household is receiving comprehensive social security assistance (CSSA) at the date of passage of the bill, it will be eligible for only one single extra allowance, which will be calculated based on the higher amount the household is eligible to receive under the WFA Scheme or the CSSA Scheme.

Allowance rates under the WFA Scheme are determined on a monthly basis based on a household's income and working hours. The claim period of an application covers the six calendar months immediately before the submission of the application, and an eligible household has to submit an application for every claim period.

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