01 perspective
Written by: Comment Editor
2019-12-16 18:00
Last updated: 2019-12-16 18:01Last year, the number of poor people in Hong Kong reached 1.406 million, a record high in ten years, and the poverty rate of 20.4% was the highest in nearly nine years. When one in five citizens is impoverished, the government is embarrassing-the Poverty Alleviation Committee, chaired by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Zhang Jianzong, did not convene a press conference to announce the poverty report, and in conjunction with the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Luo Zhiguang, said that poverty was insufficient To reflect the actual situation, the increase in retired population has been blamed. Don't the two know that there are very few people who own nine properties like Zhang Jianzong. In reality, most of the elders who have reached the retirement age with two senior officials are living in a difficult situation?
The Government released the "Hong Kong Poverty Situation Report 2018" on Friday (13th), showing that there were 613,000 poor households and 1.406 million poor people. The number of poor households, population and poverty rate increased year-on-year. Poor households are defined as having a monthly income below half the median of Hong Kong. Based on a median household income of RMB 27,000 in 2018, as many as 613,000 households earn less than RMB 13,500.
When the society focused on a new high for the poor, the government asserted itself with a poverty alleviation policy. The Chief Secretary for Administration, Zhang Jianzong, published a blog on Sunday (15th), stating that the constant cash policy "successfully lifted 380,000 people out of poverty", which reduced the number of poor people to 1.024 million and the poverty rate to 14.9%. Zhang Jianzong attributed the reductions to the relaxation of the working family allowance amount and increase of the allowance, and the implementation of high living allowances for the elderly, and described the poverty alleviation work as "a long stream of water."
Welfare policies are helping the grassroots and reducing poverty. Zhang Jianzong boasted this, but did not mention the ironic contrast between poverty and economic growth, either with a narrow vision or a whitewash.
The government released a poverty report on December 13. The number of poor people in 2018 reached 1.406 million, a record high in ten years. (Profile picture)
Blind spot one: fundamentally uneven distribution
According to the Report, the economic growth in 2018 was 3%, which is higher than the average growth rate in the past ten years; the median overall household income increased from 17,400 yuan to 27,000 yuan in ten years. During the same period, the "deep" increase in poverty was similar, that is, the amount of poor households below the poverty line increased from 3,900 yuan in 2009 to 6,000 yuan. In terms of the "breadth" of poverty, the poverty rate has remained at around 20%, and has increased year-on-year since 2014, rising from 19.6% to 20.4% last year.
Judging from economic growth, income growth, and the depth and breadth of poverty, the economic climate has not improved the gap between the rich and the poor in Hong Kong, and relatively speaking, the poor have not benefited. Even if poverty alleviation is not "more and more poverty alleviation", at least it has not improved the situation. In fact, what Zhang Jianzong calls "a long stream of water" is like "persistent poverty".
The root cause of poverty alleviation is that the government only knows "secondary distribution", that is, to help the poor to reduce their expenditure through measures such as cash benefits and "sugar distribution", that is, to strengthen the economy of the poor by not doing "first distribution" Capacity and thereby increase income. In addition to reforming economic and industrial policies to make the distribution of social profits more reasonable, the method of improving primary distribution can also increase the economic capacity of the grassroots through education policies and employment support. The Poverty Alleviation Committee includes the directors of the Labor and Welfare Bureau and the Education Bureau. Even if they are unable to touch economic policies, they should at least do the latter. Poverty has not been fundamentally improved, and only a few "sweet sugar" measures have been used to boast about "successful poverty alleviation", which precisely reflects the government's lack of good ideas.
The Chairman of the Poverty Alleviation Committee and the Chief Secretary for Administration, Zhang Jianzong, published a blog on December 15 stating that "there are limits to poverty." (Profile picture)
Blind spot two: Nothing to rely on after retirement
Regarding the persistently high poverty rate, both Zhang Jianzong and Luo Zhiguang blamed the aging population. As the poverty line only calculates household income and does not include assets, Zhang Jianzong pointed out that "retired elders are more easily defined as poor", but in fact some of them have certain assets and are not poor. Luo Zhiguang also stated on the radio program, "Many retirees do not receive monthly pensions, but rather a large amount of money. After retirement, they rely on savings, but they are not counted as income. As more and more people retire, After the last zero income, the number of poor people who only measure their income will rise. "He asserted that the number of poor people will rise in the future," it must exceed 1.4 million next year. "
Between 2014 and 2018, the population aged 65 or over increased by 18.8%, and the proportion of the poor population remained about the same. The proportion of the poor elderly in the overall poor population continued to increase. Therefore, in terms of figures, the Chief Secretary believes that the aging population has pushed up the poor and even the poverty rate. But we still have to ask: Is it inappropriate for retirees to be classified as poor? Or do most of them really face financial difficulties?
Since the 2017 report, the Poverty Alleviation Committee has added the label "Properties with Income but Poor Value" to identify elders who have no income but have good economic conditions. The approach is based on the property where the poor elderly live, assuming that they participate in a residential mortgage program commonly known as "reverse mortgage", and the income they earn is higher than the poverty line. The 2018 report estimates that 106,000 poor elders fall into this category.
However, the government only assumes that these elders participate in "reverse mortgages" and not based on actual figures. If a retiree participates in an annuity plan or "reverse mortgage", the income converted from assets should have been reflected in the report. The reality is that the elderly want to leave the property to their spouses and children. This is not only because of the traditional Chinese concept, but also because of the persistently high property prices and rents. They take into account the practical considerations of their children who are having difficulty supporting their families. Furthermore, for those living alone and second-old residents who lack income, the property and savings of 300,000 to 100,000 can be said to be the last fortress, and they will not be sold or used until the last moment. Officials should "adhere to the ground" to understand the spending habits of citizens, and preparing money without using it is not entirely a poor financial management. It is more about worrying about the future, or even helpless.
Rather than try to reduce the number of poor elders in a roundabout way, it is better to understand the economic situation of the elders directly. Taking the elderly living allowance as an example, the personal and couple income ceilings are 7,970 yuan and 13,050 yuan, respectively, which are slightly below the poverty line. As of October 31 this year, the total number of cases in Changshengjin was 558,000. This figure has already reached Exclude applicants for CSSA and Old Age Allowance.
People like 65-year-olds or above who own nine properties in Hong Kong like Zhang Jianzong are in no doubt. In other words, even though the aging population has pushed up the number of poor people, it also more or less reflects the fact that the elderly face economic difficulties after retirement. Government officials should not live in their imagination, thinking that many people also have "a lot of money" and considerable assets after retirement.
The Chief Secretary for Administration, Zhang Jianzong and the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Law Chi-kwong, pointed out that many retirees have assets and savings, so they may not be poor. But in the absence of retirement protection, many elders have a difficult life. (Profile picture)
Blind spot three: Insufficient policies
Third, the government ’s regular cash benefits have reduced the number of poor people from 1.406 million to 1.024 million (or 14.9%). Coupled with non-permanent measures such as concessionary rates and additional transportation allowances, the number of poor people has been reduced to 913,000. People (or 13.3%). Although non-permanent policies can flexibly respond to the social situation and help the poor to improve their lives, the government has repeatedly introduced single measures in recent years or reflected the inadequacy of regular measures in poverty alleviation. If it becomes dependent, it will be the best way to help the poor. On the one hand, the government should review the permanent measures, such as the Changshengjin and Tianjinjin, which have limited effectiveness, and on the other hand, consider normalizing the effective single measures. For example, the CSSA mechanism can add factors other than inflation to make the increase catch up with living expenses and narrow the "depth" of poverty.
When the number of poverty hits a new high, and the society criticizes the government for "helping the poor," the Chief Secretary should really reflect deeply, instead of talking too hard. We once suggested that the government set targets for poverty alleviation and reduce the poverty rate within a certain period of time. This year, Hong Kong has experienced a profound turmoil, which further reflects the urgent need for a major reform of society to promote primary distribution and secondary distribution, including the implementation of asset value-added tax, vacancy taxes covering second-hand buildings, large dividend taxes, increasing wealth income and Profits tax, etc., and the tax revenue is invested in education, elderly care and medical care, so that the economic results can be shared. Is an economically fair and more just society a goal for our government?
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