Gov’t to pilot carer’s allowance for a year

The Social Welfare Bureau will launch a pilot scheme for caregiver’s allowance, which will be tested by the government for a year, from December 2020 till November 2021. The application period will start next Monday and last until November 2021.
The reason for its one-year validity is that this allowance is emerging as a pilot scheme.
As per the current plan, the allowance covers individuals who suffer from severe to extremely severe intellectual disability, or those who cannot stand or sit by themselves, meaning that they are forced to lie flat most of the time.
The allowance will be issued to their carers as livelihood support amounting to MOP2,175 per month.
The allowance will be issued on a partial basis under certain conditions, the government stated. When the ill individual is not in Macau, is hospitalized or is urgently accepted into any accommodation facility other than their own home for more than 30 days, the allowance will be issued in part, based on the number of days exceeding the 30-day threshold.
The scheme requires eligible beneficiaries to be Macau permanent residents and reside in Macau with their family members.
The household’s financial status, including bank savings, cash and valued securities, will be taken into account and should not exceed set amounts for respective household sizes. In addition, the scheme also stipulates that each household should not own more than one residential property and one car parking space for personal use both in and out of Macau.
This evaluation process is similar to that for subsidized housing applicants. AL