Officials scrap plan to redraw Hong Kong poverty line
Government makes U-turn after critics slam proposal that subsidies for public housing flats be included in calculation of household income
The government has shelved its controversial proposal to revise the city’s poverty line by including subsidies offered to public housing tenants – a move that would have taken hundreds of thousands off the poor list.
The rejection of the idea by the Poverty Commission yesterday came despite Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor backing it as a better way to reflect the poverty situation in Hong Kong.
Subsidised housing is not taken into account for the current poverty line, which is drawn at half the median household income in Hong Kong and is adjusted by household size.
The government had initially informed the commission of its intention to revise the calculation system during a closed-door meeting yesterday, arguing that housing subsidies should be seen as part of poverty relief measures, as was the practice in some overseas cities.
It would in effect have reduced the population classified as living under the poverty line by 33 per cent, from 960,000 in 2014 to an estimated 640,000 according to official figures. It would also mean the number of poor people would only make up 10 per cent of the city’s population instead of the current 15 per cent.
“The new calculation is just a tactic to reduce the number of poor people in the city,” said lawmaker Frederick Fung Kin-kee, a member of the commission.