As emphasised in the first White Paper on Social Welfare published in 1965, strengthened family support was the government's imperative in assistance.
The paper notes "however generous we may wish to be, we cannot ignore the dollars and cents...In this connexion, Government's endorsement of the Chinese tradition of self-help and of treating relief measures as a family responsibility is correct in theory.
[6] In addition, the Article 107 in the Basic Law of Hong Kong stipulates that Hong Kong "shall follow the principle of keeping the expenditure within the limits of revenues in drawing up its budget, and strive to achieve a fiscal balance, avoid deficits and keep the budget commensurate with the growth rate of its gross domestic product".
[7] During the 1997 Asian financial crises, there was a tremendous increase in unemployment cases applying to CSSA, and at the time, was the only form of public measure and cash benefits available to aid the poor.
Financial deficits during these years restricted the HKSAR government's new initiatives and expansion activities to welfare, health and housing.
'[10] This included the establishment of the Mandatory Provident Fund and Carer's Support and Resource Centres as well as increasing the allowance under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance.
[15] While the then Director of Social Welfare, Carrie Lam, remarked in 2001, "There is a consensus within the community that we do not wish to see Hong Kong become a welfare state relying on heavy taxes, that there is a limit to how much the Government can spend and that the virtues of self-reliance, family cohesion and community support should be preserved,[16] in Tung Chee-Hwa’s 2000 Policy Address, he stressed that while social policy only operates as a safety net function, he acknowledges that the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis did make an impact on the community and pledged that he would focus on the plight of low-income families in the coming years.
[18] The financial secretary, Donald Tsang, noted "we would only be able to meet the ever-growing demands within our overall expenditure constraints by re-examining policies and re-adjusting spending priorities.
[19] HKSAR's goal to increase self-reliance and wean off those who rely on CSSA parallels with a global trend of reforming social security with a ‘welfare-to-work’ strategy as initiated by the New Labour Government in the United Kingdom.
[26] However, expenditure on social welfare reduced, with the Executive Council approving a reduction of the standard rate of CSSA allowances by 11%.
The Task Force on Population Policy set up by the government and chaired by the then Chief Secretary of Hong, Chief Secretary, Donald Tsang recommended in its report issued on 26 February 2003 that the seven-year's residence requirement should be introduced to restrict the new arrivals from mainland China to join the CSSA scheme.
[29][30] In Carrie Lam’s 2017 Policy Address, she states "We will continue to devote resources to poverty alleviation as well as support for the disadvantaged in order to build a caring and inclusive society.
One limb of the eligibility test for CSSA is the requirement of having been resident in Hong Kong for a certain number of years in the past, though not necessarily immediately before applying.
[38] In 2004, the Tung Chee-hwa administration extended that period to seven years, in response to the rising cost of CSSA payments to Mainland Chinese new immigrants in Hong Kong, though children under the age of 18 were exempt from this new requirement.
In June 2010, in response to a lawsuit[c 1] by a Hong Kong permanent resident formerly working in mainland China who had returned to Hong Kong after becoming unemployed, the Court of First Instance held that the requirement of one year's residence immediately prior to the date of application violated the right of freedom of movement in Article 31 of the Basic Law.
[29] Though the allocation of CSSA is committing to the government regulations, the effectiveness of this social welfare, which aims to provide appropriate aid to the suitable clients, heavily depends on the frontline caseworkers who have close interaction with the applicants.
As well, they must regularly review interviews with existing recipients, verify documents, make home visits and finish other workloads.
In the study conducted by Hong Kong Chinese Civil Servants’ Association (HKCCSA), over half of the respondents have encountered mental problems due to the high working pressure.
[43] The Office of the Ombudsman issued an investigation report in December 2008, disclosing the loose check and indifferent judgment of the SWD frontline workers.
The Ombudsman criticised these caseworkers by stating that the "abandonment of common sense and lack of practical judgment" between the staff in SWD had caused abuse of the CSSA system.
[44] Moreover, legislative councillor Cheung Chiu Hung argued that the SSA ranks are not licensed social workers, who could handle administrative work only, without understanding what the applicants really need, due to heavy workload.
[42] It is acknowledged that newly hired caseworkers will be offered a one-week training course, which introduces the regulations in SWD and code of how to pay real concern on applicants.
Caseworkers would exercise discretion to speed up the application process even if against their own will just to make the recipients are satisfied, avoiding any troubles and subsequently being complained by supervisors.
[40] At a Policy Address in January 2017, then-Chief Executive, CY Leung, introduced several new amendments to the social welfare of Hong Kong.
[46] This sparked controversy as it would have singled out many elderly Hong Kong citizens that were supposed to be eligible for CSSA, but now cannot because of the raise of the age allowance.
On 17 December 2013, this residence requirement was considered to be unconstitutional by the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (CFA).
"[48] Furthermore, the CFA considered that this seven year residence requirement was inconsistent with the one-way permit policy implemented by the Hong Kong government to facilitate family reunions and also to alleviate the overall burden of population ageing.
[citation needed] Following the court decision, some experts like Ho Hei-wah, director of the Society for Community Organisation, thought that it would eventually lead to an increase of CSSA applications per year of approximately 6,000 new residents.
It has been repeatedly suggested by multiple studies that saving accounts should be established for CSSA recipients who earn HK$4,200 per month or above.
[50] It would aim at encouraging the younger generations to help with their family living expenses as well as earning more money for themselves that would be well above HK$4,200 a month, hence making them ineligible for CSSA.