Development of Welfare Services

38. We cannot turn a blind eye to those factors that threaten long-term harmony in society. These include: employment difficulties for workers with low academic qualifications and skills; declining real pay levels in certain jobs; the polarisation of the middle class; a widening income gap; an ageing population; adaptability problems for some new arrivals from the Mainland; and serious challenges to traditional family values. We must address these issues.

39. Any society has its own disadvantaged groups. They deserve appropriate care. Social welfare in Hong Kong needs sustainable development, and our welfare agencies and professional social workers are required to play an important role. The Government will continue its partnership with the social welfare sector and endeavour to promote the development of welfare services. More and more enterprises are willing to shoulder social responsibilities by providing various forms of assistance to disadvantaged groups. Individuals and families also have a most important role to play and cannot over-rely on Government and community support. The Government has, through the Community Investment and Inclusion Fund and the Partnership Fund for the Disadvantaged, supported various projects, and actively promoted partnership with the business community, the social welfare sector and community organisations. These seek to build social capital, promote corporate social responsibility, encourage responsibility sharing by the family and individuals, and develop community support networks so that people can help one another as well as themselves, and create conditions for fostering social harmony.