The overall Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) caseload in March showed a drop of 763 cases, representing a decrease of 0.3 per cent compared with that of February, according to the latest CSSA caseload statistics released by the Social Welfare Department today (April 22).
The total CSSA caseload at the end of March stood at 223 792 (see attached table), with a total of 319 191 recipients.
Analysed by case nature, low-earnings cases registered a month-to-month decrease of 2.2 per cent to 2 422 cases. Old age cases were down by 0.7 per cent to 128 863 cases.
Unemployment cases increased by 0.4 per cent on a monthly basis to 19 810 cases. The figure represented an increase of about 57.4 per cent in comparison with that of January 2020 when Hong Kong just started to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The average number of applications for unemployment cases in January to March 2021 was 856 per month, representing a reduction of 3.3 per cent from that in December 2020 to February 2021, or a reduction of 15.1 per cent from that in January to March 2020.
Ill-health cases rose by 0.2 per cent to 26 289 cases. Both permanent disability cases and single parent cases increased by 0.1 per cent to 17 502 cases and 24 826 cases respectively.
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