Ella Lei wants applicants to be able to choose bigger apartments to promote family development

Lawmaker Ella Lei wants the government to allow public housing applicants to choose two-bedroom apartments.

She believes such a measure could promote family development and help address Macau’s low birth rate.

The lawmaker’s suggestion was made through a written inquiry to the government.

She explained that the current law for applying for public housing explicitly prohibits applicants from requesting larger apartments.

At the time, government policies were focused on reducing apartment sizes to maximize the number of units built, due to the imbalance between applicant demand and available units, as well as limited land resources.

She argued that such criteria should be amended, considering the current situation, the government’s now sufficient land resources, and the recent introduction of five different types of public housing.

“At that time, given the shortage of land resources, the housing demand of residents, and the time required for housing construction, the law was amended to restrict individual applicants from applying for flats with two or more bedrooms. As a result, a larger proportion of one-bedroom flats were supplied to address the issue of ‘quantity,’” she wrote, adding, “However, the scoring requirement of the Housing Subsidy Scheme prioritizes family group applicants, leading to many mismatches in apartment sizes. If the supply of two-bedroom or larger units remains the main focus, individual applicants will struggle to secure housing, and this problem needs to be resolved.”

The lawmaker wants the government to amend the current law and align it with today’s reality, allowing single applicants, particularly younger ones, to rent or purchase public housing units with the prospect of starting a family.

She claims that this measure would not only fulfill the wishes of most applicants but also contribute positively to addressing Macau’s aging population and extremely low birth rate.

Access to stable housing and difficulties in securing stable jobs have been cited as the main reasons why the younger generation is deterred from having children.

For now, the government has not yet presented any policies aimed at increasing the birth rate, with several lawmakers calling for additional benefits, including enhanced maternity and paternity leave.

Currently, under a measure launched last year, all female employees who have completed one year of service are eligible for maternity benefits. These benefits include 70 days of maternity leave, with 56 days paid by the employer and 14 days paid by the Social Welfare Bureau.

In the neighboring region of Hong Kong, employers must pay eligible employees 14 weeks of statutory maternity leave, with the government reimbursing employers for an additional four weeks.

In mainland China, basic maternity leave, or national maternity leave, lasts 98 days for a normal childbirth. An extra 15 days are granted in special cases, such as difficult labor (dystocia).