The number of people living below Hong Kong’s poverty line has reached a record high, a study published yesterday claimed.
Around 1.23 million — or 17.9 percent — of the population of the territory of 7 million are considered poor, with the elderly and teenagers being the worst hit.
The study, by the Hong Kong Council of Social Services, found that in the first six months of the year there were 20,000 more people living in poverty compared with the same period last year.
The study defined poverty as earning half or less than half of the average monthly income.
For a single person the average monthly income is HK$3,300 (US$425); US$6,750 for a two-person family and US$12,650 for a family of four or more members.
The study, which analyzed government statistics, found 32 percent of those aged over 65 fell below the poverty line.
Young people also fared poorly with the number of poverty stricken rising to 20 percent compared with 10 percent a decade ago.
The study also highlighted a widening gulf between the rich and the poor in the territory, which is home to some of Asia’s wealthiest families.
It showed the income of high earners had risen 34.7 percent in the last 20 years, while earnings of the low-income groups had fallen by 3.3 percent.
Christine Fang (方敏生), head of the Council of Social Services, said the study, published in the South China Morning Post, showed the need for a minimum wage.
“Many people think that Hong Kong’s economy is reviving ... but the number of people living under the poverty line reflects that the grassroots have not benefited from the so-called economic revival, in fact poverty is getting worse,” she told the paper.
Meanwhile, the global economic crisis will keep more than 60 million Asians in poverty this year, the head of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said yesterday, urging a greater focus on social welfare including healthcare.
“This crisis should be seen as an opportunity to take proactive measures that lay the groundwork for inclusive and sustainable development over the long term,” Haruhiko Kuroda, the bank’s president, told an international conference.
Soaring food costs, rising oil prices and, over the past year, the global economic and financial crisis, have caused up to 41 million Chinese workers to lose their jobs, while the number of chronically hungry in South Asia has increased by about 100 million, Kuroda said. ADB estimates show 60 million people are stuck below the US$1.25-a-day poverty line because of the economic downturn.
“These people would have been freed from the shackles of poverty had economic growth continued at pre-crisis levels,” Kuroda told the opening session of the meeting, billed as the first major Asia-Pacific conference on the social impact of the crisis.
While signs of worldwide economic stabilization are emerging, the longer-term challenge for Asia’s developing economies will be to enhance resilience to external shocks, Kuroda said.
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
BUILDUP: US General Dan Caine said Chinese military maneuvers are not routine exercises, but instead are ‘rehearsals for a forced unification’ with Taiwan China poses an increasingly aggressive threat to the US and deterring Beijing is the Pentagon’s top regional priority amid its rapid military buildup and invasion drills near Taiwan, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday. “Our pacing threat is communist China,” Hegseth told the US House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense during an oversight hearing with US General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Beijing is preparing for war in the Indo-Pacific as part of its broader strategy to dominate that region and then the world,” Hegseth said, adding that if it succeeds, it could derail
COMPLIANCE: The SEF has helped more than 3,900 Chinese verify documents, indicating that most of those affected are willing to cooperate, the MAC said More than 3,100 spouses from China have submitted proof of renunciation of their Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The National Immigration Agency has since April issued notices to spouses to submit proof that they had renounced their Chinese household registration on or before June 30 or their Taiwanese household registration would be revoked. People having difficulties obtaining such a document can request an extension of the deadline or submit a written affidavit in lieu of it. The council said it would hold a briefing at 2:30pm on Friday at the immigration agency’s Taichung office in cooperation with the
The government-funded human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination is to be expanded to boys at junior-high school starting in September, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. The Taiwan Society of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, the Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Taiwan Immunization Vision and Strategy, the Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan, the Taiwan Head and Neck Society, the Formosa Cancer Foundation and the National Alliance of Presidents of Parents Associations held a joint news conference in Taipei yesterday to raise public awareness about the risks of HPV infection, regardless of gender. Invited to give an address, HPA Director-General Wu Chao-chun
RSS