Poverty situation remains stable

November 19, 2018

Chief Secretary and Commission on Poverty Chairperson Matthew Cheung today presented the Hong Kong Poverty Situation Report 2017.

 

Pre-intervention poverty figures in 2017 rose slightly year-on-year, with a poor population of more than 1.37 million people and a poverty rate of 20.1%.

 

After recurrent cash policy intervention, the poverty rate was at 14.7%, the same level seen in 2016.

 

Mr Cheung said this shows Hong Kong’s overall poverty situation remained largely stable. It also shows the increased effectiveness of the Government’s poverty alleviation work.

 

With a broad-based tightening of the labour market and a notable expansion of the economy, overall wages recorded an increase of 3.8% year-on-year. Alongside the increase in wages, there was a general increase of the poverty line thresholds by household size.

 

Mr Cheung said the Government’s methodology is constrained by the fact that non-recurrent government cash programmes and welfare services are not counted.

 

“The trouble is because of this methodology, the rigidity, the constraint, the parameter, we’ve got to follow the international norm. That’s why all these are not reflected in the figures at all.”

 

Mr Cheung added the Old Age Living Allowance in 2017 lifted 91,200 senior citizens out of poverty, and reduced the elderly poverty rate by 8.2 percentage points.

 

He said it was the most effective measure in alleviating elderly poverty amongst various recurrent cash policies.

 

Click here for the full report.

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