What can you eat for HK$15? Data shows more than 70,000 Hong Kong households fall below baseline
Analysis of government data shows many families ‘can’t afford to eat properly’, with poor people outside public housing hit particularly hard
About 71,000 poor Hong Kong households do not have enough money to meet even their most basic food needs, and are surviving on less than HK$15 per meal per person, a study has found.
And poor people who do not have public housing are shelling out larger chunks of their small incomes on rent than those who do, leaving them particularly short of cash for food.
Without public flats or comprehensive social security assistance, more than 40 per cent of low income households in Hong Kong did not meet their basic nutritional needs, with some surviving on less than HK$15 per meal, the study has found.
The study, by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, which oversees more than 460 community groups, looked at the conditions those categorised as low income – that is, earning less than half of the city’s median income – but who are not getting social security.
A household is considered poor if it brings a monthly income less than HK$3,500 for one person, HK$8,500 for two people, HK$14,000 for three people, and HK$17,000 for four.
The study analysed data on 6,880 households from a survey undertaken by the Census and Statistics Department from 2014-15. In that survey, city residents gave information on their income and outgoings, including their spending on food. It looked specifically at the living conditions of those under the poverty line – whose household income falls below 50 per cent of the city’s median.