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Study Reveals Over 60% of Elderly Respondents Hope to "Work as Long as You Can" Social Association Promotes Universal Pension

2022-05-01T09:12:27.342Z


According to Hong Kong's population projections in 2020, there are 1.52 million elderly people over the age of 65 this year, accounting for nearly 20% of Hong Kong's population, and it will rise to 30% in the next 12 years. However, 2019 data shows that 390,000 elderly people still live in poor


According to Hong Kong's population projections in 2020, there are 1.52 million elderly people over the age of 65 this year, accounting for nearly 20% of Hong Kong's population, and it will rise to 30% in the next 12 years. However, 2019 data shows that 390,000 elderly people still live in Below the poverty line, as of December last year, the elderly workforce was about 170,000.


The Hong Kong Association of Community Organizations took advantage of the Labor Day today (1st) to release the results of a survey on the distress and retirement intentions faced by grass-roots elderly workers. It found that more than six elderly workers are in the mentality of "doing it as long as you can", and 94% The elders interviewed revealed that the reason was that they could not meet the basic living expenses after retirement, so they could not retire. Some elders also pointed out that the MPF system could not protect their life in old age.

The Social Welfare Association suggested that the government should relax the thresholds for various old age allowances, cancel MPF hedging, and restart the universal pension funded by labor, capital, and the government, so that grassroots seniors can retire indefinitely.


The research on protection and retirement intentions of the working grassroots elders was conducted between November last year and February this year. A total of 100 working grassroots elders aged 60 or above were interviewed in Kowloon.

Among them, the majority of elderly people (47%) and those living alone (28%) live in subdivided housing (73%).

(Photo by Zeng Fengting)

The research on protection and retirement intentions of the working grassroots elders was conducted between November last year and February this year. A total of 100 working grassroots elders aged 60 or above were interviewed in Kowloon.

Among them, seniors living alone and double seniors are the main ones, accounting for 47% and 28% respectively, and 73% mostly live in subdivided flats.

The median salary of the interviewed elders is lower than the median salary of the whole Hong Kong, which is only 11,000 yuan, and 37% of the respondents whose income accounts for nearly 40% of their income from rental income.

Due to their educational background and age, most of the grassroots elders can only work in high-hours and labor-related industries. 54% of the respondents are engaged in cleaning and handyman work, and 26% are engaged in security work.

Seventy percent of the respondents worked more than 208 hours, and 36% said they worked more than 240 hours.

More than 80% of the respondents indicated that they had the condition and pain of strain, but none of them were rated as occupational strain.

As the main source of income for 90% of the respondents is salary, most of them can only continue to work to maintain daily expenses.

About 40% of the respondents over the age of 65 said they had withdrawn their MPF, but their median MPF ​​was $10,000, which was only enough to cover their retirement living expenses for two months. , only enough to cover 4 months of living expenses.

More than 60% of the respondents said that they were "good enough", and 94% said it was difficult to retire with peace of mind because they could not meet the basic living expenses after retirement, and they could not apply for government subsidies to help them live for various reasons.

Elderly cleaner's fingers deformed due to work and endured pain

The 67-year-old mother-in-law Liang works as a casual cleaner in a building, and her income is only enough to cover the rent and daily basic expenses.

Currently, she lives alone in a subdivided apartment with a monthly rent of 2,300 yuan. Granny Liang pointed out that the house is leaking and there are psyllids, making it difficult for her to sleep.

In addition, due to her long-term cleaning work, her body gradually suffered from strain. In addition to deforming her fingers, she also suffered from rheumatism.

Granny Liang took the example last month. She visited a private clinic twice because of pain in her hand, and the fee for each consultation was as high as over 1,000 yuan.

Granny Liang said that medical expenses are extra expenses, and she also mentioned that she had tried to go to the emergency room and make an appointment for medical treatment in the general department under the HA, but the waiting time for the former was too long, and the latter was difficult to make an appointment. Treatment in private clinics.

Granny Liang revealed that her work is paid by daily wages, which means that if she is unwell and cannot go to work, she will have no income, so she can only take painkillers to endure her physical discomfort and go to work. Regarding retirement, Granny Liang admitted that the ideal is to retire at the age of 70, but if it is difficult to achieve according to the current situation, "I don't know how to calculate it.

The 72-year-old Granny Li is also a cleaner, with a monthly salary of $10,442, which is only $12 above the OALA income limit, so she could not apply for the relevant allowance.

Long-term labor also strained her hands, waist and knees.

She said that the salary is only enough to live on, but it is difficult to save money, and she also admits that she does not dare to retire.

(Photo by Zeng Fengting)

The salaries of working grassroots elders are only enough to live on and dare not retire

The 72-year-old Granny Li is also a cleaner, with a monthly salary of $10,442, which is only $12 above the OALA income limit, so she could not apply for the relevant allowance.

Long-term labor also strained her hands, waist and knees.

She said that the salary is only enough to live on, but it is difficult to save money, and she also admits that she does not dare to retire.

.

She said that the salary is only enough to live on, but it is difficult to save money, and she also admits that she does not dare to retire.

In the past, a friend suggested her to apply for CSSA, but Granny Li wanted to renew it by herself, and the relevant subsidies were not enough to support her life, so she did not apply.

In terms of medical treatment, Granny Li used medical vouchers for treatment, but her teeth also had problems recently, and she needed to spend thousands of yuan in additional medical expenses.

Granny Li hopes that the authorities will relax the upper limit of OALA, so that she can be more financially flexible, and she can save part of her salary to prepare for retirement.

Mr. Lao worked as a casual worker in the catering industry. After the fifth wave of the epidemic, his work was insufficient and his income dropped sharply.

Mr. Lao is the only breadwinner for the family of three.

(Photo by Zeng Fengting)

Mr. Lao works as a casual worker in the catering industry. The fifth wave of the epidemic has caused him to underwork and his income has dropped sharply.

Mr. Lao is the only financial support for a family of three, and the epidemic is extremely miserable. "Full-time work is half of the labor. If the evening market does not stop work in the future, I will be fired at ten o'clock, and I will be tied up for 104 hours a month. , that is, 6,000 to 6,500 mosquitoes are man-made.”

In the past, with the assistance of the working family allowance, they could barely maintain their living, but since June, the relevant applicants need to work 144 hours to meet the standard, which means that Mr. Lao's family is not eligible for the application, and it is difficult to lose an income in disguise. maintain a family.

Wu Weidong, director of the Hong Kong Association of Community Organizations, pointed out that although Hong Kong's population is aging, labor protection for the elderly has not seen any significant improvement, failing to take care of the needs of the elderly.

He took the Labour Department's Employment Scheme for the Middle-aged and the Elderly as an example. The conditions for application are jobs with a training period of 3 to 6 months. However, most of the elderly are engaged in low-skilled and labor-intensive jobs, so they cannot benefit from the scheme.

(Photo by Zeng Fengting)

Social Association: Restart the universal pension funded by labor, capital and government

Wu Weidong, director of the Hong Kong Association of Community Organizations, pointed out that although Hong Kong's population is aging, labor protection for the elderly has not seen any significant improvement, failing to take care of the needs of the elderly.

He took the Labour Department's Employment Scheme for the Middle-aged and the Elderly as an example. The conditions for application are jobs with a training period of 3 to 6 months. However, most of the elderly are engaged in low-skilled and labor-intensive jobs, so they cannot benefit from the scheme.

He mentioned that the MPF has been implemented since 2000, but the minimum wage was delayed until 2011. The grassroots elders have been engaged in low-paying labor jobs for many years, and their MPF will be less, which is not enough for them to cope with their old age.

The Social Welfare Association suggested that the government should relax the threshold of various old age allowances, such as working family allowance and old age living allowance, cancel MPF hedging and restart the universal pension funded by labor, capital and government, so that grassroots elders can retire with peace of mind.

On the eve of Labor Day, many groups petitioned the government to improve labor protection. Carrie Lam: This year's labor affairs have achieved fruitful results, and strive to cancel the MPF before the election to hedge against International Work Injury Day | Groups on the rise of occupational injury cases urge the establishment of a special committee to handle claims

01 Community

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2022-05-01

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