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Poor population hits record high of 1.4 million. Poverty rate in seven districts is higher than average

2019-12-14T01:19:58.232Z


The Government released the "Hong Kong Poverty Situation Report 2018" yesterday (13th). A total of 1.406 million citizens were defined as the poor. The ratio was 20.4%, second only to 20.6% in 2009, representing every five citizens. One person is below the poverty line. However, the poverty rate in seven districts is higher than the overall level, with the worst reaching 27%. The poverty rate in the 18 districts has almost doubled. The Central and Western District is still the lowest, only 14.1%, but it has increased by 2 percentage points year-on-year, that is, one out of seven residents is in poverty. The highest rate is also "Xinzhuang". One out of every four residents in the Tong District is in poverty, and the poverty rate in the remaining three districts is about 24%; more than 100,000 people in five districts in Hong Kong are below the poverty line.


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Written by: Ni Qingjiang

2019-12-14 09:15

Last updated: 2019-12-14 09:15

The Government released the "Hong Kong Poverty Situation Report 2018" yesterday (13th). A total of 1.406 million citizens were defined as the poor. The ratio was 20.4%, second only to 20.6% in 2009, representing every five citizens. One person is below the poverty line. However, the poverty rate in seven districts is higher than the overall level, with the worst reaching 27%.

The poverty rate in the 18 districts has almost doubled. The Central and Western District is still the lowest, only 14.1%, but it has increased by 2 percentage points year-on-year, that is, one out of seven residents is in poverty. The highest rate is also "Xinzhuang". One out of every four residents in the Tong District is in poverty, and the poverty rate in the remaining three districts is about 24%; more than 100,000 people in five districts in Hong Kong are below the poverty line.

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Government: aging accelerates poverty

The Poverty Alleviation Committee adopted the concept of “relative poverty” and set the poverty line level at 50% of the median monthly household income before the policy intervention by household size. The Office of the Government Economic Adviser and the Census and Statistics Department have updated the analysis of poverty for the seventh time since the official poverty line was first announced in 2013. Based on 2018 data, a family of four had a monthly income of less than 21,000 yuan before the policy intervention.

The authorities explained that the record high for the poor in 2018 was mainly due to the accelerated aging of the population, which offset the positive economic and employment situation, as well as the positive impact of the government's efforts to reduce poverty.

Poverty line for various household numbers in 2018. (Documents of the Poverty Alleviation Committee)

Welfare transfers lifted 380,000 people out of poverty

The government pointed out that in 2018, after the government ’s regular cash policy intervention, such as CSSA and public housing, the poverty population fell to 1.024 million, with a poverty rate of 14.9%; compared with the pre-policy intervention (that is, pre-tax and social welfare transfers) (Previously) 1.406 million and 20.4%. The constant cash policy successfully lifted 382,000 people out of poverty, reducing the poverty rate by 5.5 percentage points.

The government stated that providing child workers with additional allowances, child poverty has significantly improved in 2018, and the child poverty rate has also fallen to a new low of 16.8%. For the elderly, after the policy intervention in 2018, the poverty rate for the elderly decreased from 44.4% to 30.9%, but rose by 0.4 percentage points year-on-year.

↓↓ The latest poverty rate and poor population in 18 districts in 2018 (announced on December 13) ↓↓

(Calculated before policy intervention, the ratio is from low to high)

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The lowest poverty rate in Saigon after policy intervention

In terms of zoning, the first three lowest poverty rates were Central and Western District, Sai Kung (Tseung Kwan O) and Wan Chai, ranging from 14.1% to 14.2%. The first Central and Western District increased by 2 percentage points year-on-year. Intermodulation ranking. After the policy intervention, the poor population ratio in Sai Kung District decreased by 3.5 percentage points to only 10.7%, which is the lowest in Hong Kong; the Southern District, followed by 11.9%.

Prior to policy intervention, the poor population ratios in Yuen Long, Tuen Mun, Kwai Tsing, Sham Shui Po, North District, Wong Tai Sin and Kwun Tong were all higher than the overall 20.4%. Among them, Kwun Tong reached 27%, which is almost double that of the Central and Western District, an increase of 1.4 percentage points year-on-year. There are 175,800 people in the district, and an average of one in every four people is poor. In addition, the poverty ratios in Sham Shui Po, North District and Wong Tai Sin are similar (23.9% to 24%), and one in four is poor. In Kwun Tong, Kwai Tsing, Tuen Mun, Yuen Long and Sha Tin, the number of poor residents is over 100,000.

After the policy intervention, the poverty population in the seven districts has dropped significantly, ranging from 6.1 to 8.4 percentage points. Although Kwun Tong maintains the worst area in Hong Kong, the rate has dropped to 18.8%, and 53,500 people have fallen out of the poverty line. , Reduced to 122,300, but the number is still four times that of outlying islands or Wan Chai.

The government says that the three consecutive rises in youth poverty rates are cause for concern. (Hong Kong Poverty Report)

Youth poverty rate rises for three consecutive governments: noteworthy

Before the policy intervention, the poverty rate for young people aged 18 to 29 in 2018 was 12.6%, 0.7 percentage points higher than the low of 11.9% in 2015. After the intervention of the constant cash policy, the youth poverty rate in 2018 was 9.3%, which was recorded for three consecutive years. There was an increase of 90,100 poor people, accounting for 8.8% of the total poor population.

The Government pointed out that although the number of young people living in poverty fell slightly during the same period, this was mainly due to the continuous decline in the number of young people in recent years. The report mentioned that the poverty situation of youth has always been better than the overall situation, regardless of before and after policy intervention. However, the youth poverty rate has been increasing in recent years, and the situation deserves attention.

The authorities stated that compared with 2015, the majority of the newly-increased poor youth (94.2%) after the policy intervention in 2018 were 18 to 24 years old, mainly students who were receiving post-secondary education, and most of them were not engaged in economic activities. This phenomenon is roughly consistent with the rising trend of school attendance among young people aged 18 to 24, reflecting that young people have more opportunities to receive tertiary education in recent years.

Highly educated people make up 3.2% of the total poor

Analyze the poverty of working people by education level. In 2018, the poverty rate of working people was 4.9%. Among them, the poverty rate of working people with junior high school education or below was 9.2%, that of high school education was 5.5%, and that of tertiary education. The educational level of working people is even lower at 2.1%, which is well below the overall poverty rate. These poorly educated people make up only 3.2% of the total poor. Nearly half of them are young people between the ages of 18 and 29, with a high part-time rate (39.2%) and short monthly working hours. Most of them are the only working members in the household, but the number of family members is generally larger, and the burden on the family is heavier.

↓↓ Median monthly household income change of households in 18 districts in 2018 (announced on March 29) ↓↓

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450,000 people are working poor

There are about 140,000 non-CSSA working poor households, with a total of 450,000 poor people, accounting for about 40% of the total. According to the report, the number of these households is generally large and the burden on the family is heavy. However, compared with 2017, the poverty situation of this group has improved in 2018, mainly due to the enhanced poverty alleviation effect of occupational assistance. A total of 42,400 non-CSSA working households (including 17,500 children) were lifted out of poverty, reducing the poverty rate by 0.7 percentage point.

235,000 children's poverty rate has bottomed out, rising for two years

1.406 million poor people in 2018 hit a 10-year high, members are expected to rise again in the next two years

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Poverty line

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2019-12-14

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