Am I still eligible to apply for CSSA if I have a job? If I am a CSSA recipient, will the amount of assistance be affected if I find a new job with income?

Which group do you belong to?

• Non CSSA recipient 

  • To be eligible for CSSA assistance, an applicant and his /her family must satisfy the residence requirement and pass the income and assets tests.  In addition, their total assessable monthly household income must be insufficient to meet their total monthly needs as recognized under the Scheme.

  • Because of the complexity in the calculation of the amount of assistance, please contact the social security field unit of your district for details.

• CSSA recipient 

  • In order to encourage CSSA recipient to find jobs and continue working, Social Welfare Department (SWD) has the arrangement of ‘disregarded earnings’ (DE).  DE refers to the earnings from employment that are disregarded when assessing the amount of assistance payable to a CSSA recipient.     

  • All categories of recipients in cases which have been on CSSA for not less than two months are eligible for DE benefits.

  • Therefore, the total monthly family income (i.e. earnings from employment plus CSSA) of CSSA recipients with employment is always higher than that of those relying entirely on CSSA.  

The provision of ‘disregarded earnings’ (DE)

1. Monthly DE
Monthly earnings from employment can be partially disregarded up to a maximum of $4,000 per month, calculated as follows :

2. Total disregard of maximum the first two months' income from a new job
A maximum of the first two months' income earned by a recipient aged 15 or above from a new job can be totally disregarded on condition that the recipient has not benefited from this provision during the past two years.

Note: Recipient must satisfy the residence requirement and pass both the income and assets tests in order to receive assistance. The actual amount of assistance received depends on the decision of SWD.