Low-income family supplement a step forward but more needs to be done

The chief executive used his policy address to introduce a new initiative to help working poor families who have been suffering for decades.

The low-income family supplement, a secondary safety net advocated by grass-roots organisations since the handover, shows a fundamental change in the way the government views wealth distribution.

It is a step by the administration towards tackling one of the deep-seated contradictions in our society.

According to statistics from the Commission on Poverty, about 300,000 low-income households that do not receive welfare have monthly incomes below the official poverty line, of which 48 per cent - 143,500 families consisting of 493,200 people - are working poor.

Statistically, the typical working poor family consists of three people and has the equivalent of 1.1 full-time workers.

About 80 per cent of the families have at least one member who works full time, and the family also has to look after its children.