The overall Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) caseload in February slightly rose by four cases, remaining more or less the same as that of January, according to the latest CSSA caseload statistics released by the Social Welfare Department today (March 17).
The total CSSA caseload at the end of February stood at 216 446 (see attached table), with a total of 303 442 recipients.
Analysed by case nature, low-earnings cases registered a month-to-month decrease of 0.5 per cent to 2 205 cases. Permanent disability cases were down by 0.2 per cent to 17 471 cases. Both old age cases and single parent cases slightly decreased by 0.1 per cent to 123 593 cases and 23 660 cases respectively.
Unemployment cases increased by 0.5 per cent on a month-to-month basis to 18 550 cases. The figure represented an increase of about 47.4 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 December 2021 to February 2022 was 443 per month, representing a decrease of 7.5 per cent from that in November 2021 to January 2022.
Ill-health cases remained steady at 26 972 cases.
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