Gov’t announces benefit regime for next year

The amount of social security benefits and allowances provided by the Macau SAR for the coming year has been announced via Executive Order No. 307/2018 published in the Official Gazette. The amounts will take effect from January 1, 2019, according to a government statement.
According to the Executive Order, the old-age pension allowance will be set at MOP3,630 per month, the same amount as the disability pension.
The unemployment allowance will be set at MOP145 per day. The hospitalization sickness allowance will also be MOP145 per day, but the non-hospitalization sickness allowance will be MOP110 per day.
The Social Security Fund website notes that the payments of old-age pension, disability pension, unemployment allowance and sickness allowance cannot coincide with one another. If a beneficiary qualifies for more than one of the above-mentioned benefits, the individual can select whichever is the most favorable.
The government has also announced increases to several other benefits. The birth allowance, for which the application must be submitted within 60 days of the birth date or adoption date, will increase from MOP5,000 to MOP5,260 per application.
Meanwhile, the marriage allowance will increase from MOP1,957 last year to MOP2,060 per application and the funeral allowance will be set at MOP2,670 per application. The “relief payment” will be set at MOP2,385 per month, according to the Executive Order.