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Written by: Commentary Editing Room
2020-10-04 07:15
Last update date: 2020-10-04 07:15
There is a huge disparity between the rich and the poor in Hong Kong. Living in the same city, the distance between the high-income earners and the poor can be the same.
The "2020 Global Life Report" published by CB Richard Ellis earlier pointed out that the average monthly salary of Hong Kong people is close to 40,000, surpassing Sydney and Munich to rank first in the world. Recently, there have been hot talks on the Internet.
Many citizens are puzzled by this off-the-ground statistics-do Hong Kong people really earn 40,000 yuan a month?
The average is calculated at the same time for the two most extreme income situations in society. Just as netizens laughed, "Li Ka-shing and I have an average monthly income of 50 million." Under the disparity between the rich and the poor, the average cannot reflect the real life of citizens.
The annual salary of the "working emperor" is over 100 million. Some people in Central are called "moon tribe" (millions of monthly income) or even planet tribe (millions of monthly salary). At the same time, nearly 1.4 million people in Hong Kong are put under the poverty line. The family's monthly income is less than 10,000 yuan.
Comparing the two, or even discussing the wealth of Hong Kong people in terms of average monthly salary, obviously does not reflect social reality.
Difference between mean and median
The reason why a monthly income of 40,000 makes people feel off the ground is that more than half of the population of Hong Kong can hardly reach even a monthly income of 20,000.
According to the latest "Quarterly Report on General Household Survey" from the Census and Statistics Department, the median monthly income of employed persons is 19,000 yuan.
This means that if the income of the local population is arranged in order, more than half of the local population actually has a monthly income of less than 20,000.
Statistics also show that 80% of Hong Kong’s population has a monthly income of less than an average of 40,000 yuan, and 450,000 people earn less than 10,000 yuan a month. Those whose monthly salary is less than the average are the real "silent majority."
They are ignored by the calculation method of the average, but suffer from the high cost of living under the disparity between the rich and the poor.
Do Hong Kong people really earn 40,000 yuan a month?
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Hong Kong's average salary is the highest in the world, and its per capita GDP ranks 13th in the world. Behind the brilliant economic data, it is inevitable that people can live in a comfortable life in Hong Kong and live and work in peace.
However, the fruits of local economic production are not even covered by rain and dew, and most are earned by businesses.
As the average income ranks among the top, the accompanying high property prices and high commodity prices have also made life more difficult for citizens whose monthly income is less than the median.
Beautiful data is like illusion
The "2020 Global Living Report" pointed out that the average property price in Hong Kong is as high as 9.72 million Hong Kong dollars, ranking first in the world.
The "Global Cost of Living Survey 2020" conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit also found that other living costs in Hong Kong, such as bread, milk, coffee, etc., are expensive, and the prices of various necessities of life rank second to eighth in the world.
As a Hong Kong citizen, even if the monthly income reaches the median, it is not easy to save money to buy a property after deducting living expenses.
As a Hong Kong citizen, even if the monthly income reaches the median, it is not easy to save money to buy a property after deducting living expenses.
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The so-called "don't worry about being scarce but worry about inequality" may be familiar to this city where the Gini coefficient has been high for a long time.
The disparity between the rich and the poor has persisted for many years, but the public has been unable to see hope for change in government policies.
With the illusion that "the average monthly salary of Hong Kong people is 40,000", it is time for the government to redistribute wealth, such as raising the minimum wage to increase basic income, or building more houses, improving the public medical system, etc. Poverty disappeared.
The Hong Kong government should take this opportunity to recognize the reality that 80% of Hong Kong people have a monthly income below the average, and understand that people who cannot live and work in Hong Kong are still the "silent majority".
A fair and just society cannot sit back and watch the disparity between the rich and the poor
The loss of Hong Kong's status as the freest economy is to bid farewell to the old economic thinking time
[Poverty report] The government must start the first distribution
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