The government announced in the Policy Address two years ago that eligible parents would receive a cash incentive of HK$20,000 for each baby born on or after October 25, 2023, as part of a three-year plan. Today (July 16), Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun responded to Legislative Council members' inquiries, stating that as of the end of last month, the government had received a total of 49,567 eligible applications and had distributed the incentive to 48,984 applicants, amounting to approximately HK$979 million.
Sun noted that the Office of the Chief Secretary for Administration is reviewing the newborn cash incentive plan, taking into account suggestions raised by the community regarding whether families under different talent schemes should be included.
Regarding public housing allocations, Sun mentioned that the Housing Authority implemented the "Families with Newborns Allocation Priority Scheme" on April 1 of last year. As of the end of last month, about 5,000 public housing applications had their waiting time reduced by one year under this scheme, with approximately 420 families successfully arranged for public housing.
Sun also highlighted that during the application period for "Home Ownership Scheme 2024," the Housing Authority received around 106,000 application forms, of which about 50,000 were from family applicants. Approximately 19,000 applications participated in the "Priority Scheme for Families with Elderly Members" and the "Families with Newborns Allocation Priority Scheme," accounting for about 40% of family applicants. Among them, around 800 applicants successfully purchased units through the "Families with Newborns Allocation Priority Scheme."
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