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Abstract
This article compares social assistance systems in Macao and Hong Kong. It finds that Macao delivers a higher level of social assistance benefits, whereas Hong Kong has a larger group of social assistance beneficiaries. The Hong Kong Government spends a larger amount on social assistance provision and imposes tougher controls on the recipients, compared to Macao. The results of the comparison indicate that Macao and Hong Kong differ markedly in the type of productivist welfare regime they belong and challenge the assertion that the two welfare systems form a distinct welfare model.
Notes
1. The author’s calculations are based on statistical data from the Macao Statistics and Census Service (MS&CS, Citation2016a) and the HKC&SD (Citation2015a). In Macao, the total payment to a healthy elderly beneficiary was the sum of the FA basic rate, the Old-age Allowance and the Subvention for the Central Provident Fund’s Individual Accounts. In Hong Kong, the total payment was the sum of the CSSA standard rate and the community living supplement.