The surge in child- and spouse-abuse cases in recent years is due to increasing stress, and police officers' and social workers' heightened awareness of domestic violence, Social Welfare Department Director Paul Tang says.

Speaking on a Commercial Radio programme today, Mr Tang said parental cooperation is crucial to solving the problem, if they are willing to accept psychological counselling from social workers.

"The department can arrange for the affected kids to be placed in temporary foster homes if the parents cannot take care of them for economic and other reasons," he added.

There were 763 cases of child abuse in 2005, up from 620 cases in 2004. The cases of spouse abuse also increased from 3,371 in 2004 to 3,598 in 2005.

Mr Tang attributed the rise to the decline of family values, such as respect for elderly, marital fidelity and affection for children. The Government last year earmarked $10 million for family education and publicity. It will continue to put more efforts and resources into solving the problem.

The department has urged the Health Department's Maternal & Child Health Centres to report and refer mothers suffering from stress and depression.

Asked about the penalties for those abusive parents or spouses, Mr Tang noted that denying comprehensive social security assistance to them is not appropriate as it will affect the livelihood of the family in need.

He said the department is looking into setting a time limit for welfare payments, to end a recipient's chronic dependence on government support.