New income and asset limits under the Working Family Allowance to be implemented on April 1
******************************************************************************************
The improvement measures under the WFA Scheme will be implemented on April 1. They include allowing singleton households to apply, relaxing the income limits, allowing working hours of household members to be aggregated, adding a tier of working hour requirement to allow eligible households to receive a higher rate of allowance, increasing the allowance rates and adding a 3/4 allowance rate.
Starting from April 1, a household meeting the requirements on working hours as well as the income and asset limits may apply for a Basic Allowance ($800 per month for full rate), Medium Allowance ($1,000 per month for full rate) or Higher Allowance ($1,200 per month for full rate). Each eligible child will also be granted a Child Allowance ($1,000 per child per month for full rate). Depending on the household income, the allowances may be granted at full rate, 3/4 rate or half rate. The working hour requirements for single parents will be lower. Details are tabulated below.
| Full rate monthly allowance (monthly household income not higher than 50 per cent Median Monthly Domestic Household Income (MMDHI) of economically active households) |
3/4 rate monthly allowance (monthly household income of more than 50 per cent but not higher than 60 per cent MMDHI of economically active households) |
Half rate monthly Allowance (monthly household income of more than 60 per cent but not higher than 70 per cent MMDHI of economically active households) |
|
| Basic Allowance: monthly working hours of at least 144 hours (single-parent households: 36 hours) | $800 | $600 | $400 |
| Medium Allowance: monthly working hours of at least 168 hours (single-parent households: 54 hours) | $1,000 | $750 | $500 |
| Higher Allowance: monthly working hours of at least 192 hours (single-parent households: 72 hours) | $1,200 | $900 | $600 |
| Child Allowance (Each child or youth) |
$1,000 | $750 | $500 |
Note: All household members will be allowed to aggregate their working hours for WFA applications and the WFA Scheme also covers singleton households.
Application form and related documents for WFA will be made available on April 3 at 159 distribution outlets, including the Working Family Allowance Office (WFAO) and the Student Finance Office (SFO) of the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency (WFSFAA), the Work Incentive Transport Subsidy Division, Job Centres and Industry-based Recruitment Centres of the Labour Department, the District Social Welfare Offices, Social Security Field Units and Integrated Family Service Centres of the Social Welfare Department, and the Home Affairs Enquiry Centres of the Home Affairs Department.
Applications can be submitted by post to PO Box No. 62600 Kwun Tong Post Office (WFAO of the WFSFAA) or through the drop-in boxes at the WFAO and SFO of the WFSFAA, the Work Incentive Transport Subsidy Division of the Labour Department and the District Social Welfare Offices of the Social Welfare Department.
Applicants are welcome to call the 24-hour hotline 2558 3000 or visit the enquiry counters of the WFAO at 9/F, 181 Hoi Bun Road, Kwun Tong for enquiries about the WFA Scheme. New applicants who have difficulty in completing the application forms can also seek assistance from over 70 service units of non-governmental organisations which will provide form-filling service from April 1 to December 31. Information about the WFA Scheme (including the income and asset limits announced today) and the complete list of service units that will provide the form-filling service is available at the WFAO's website (lifa.gov.hk or, with effect from April 1, wfa.gov.hk).
Ends/Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Issued at HKT 9:00
Issued at HKT 9:00
NNNN