70 per cent feel pinch of hard times, survey shows

Nearly 70 per cent of respondents to a survey said they had suffered from pay cuts, job cuts or were holding negative assets last year.

The survey, which interviewed 519 people, found that in the past year 52.8 per cent had had their workload increased, 37.2 per cent had suffered losses on investments other than property and 30 per cent had insufficient income to cover their spending.

A total of 27.6 per cent had suffered pay cuts while 22.9 per cent and 18.5 per cent respectively held negative assets or had lost their jobs over the past year.

More than 70 per cent of respondents were satisfied with their lives before the latest financial turmoil, and 47 per cent believed they could handle their problems while 31.6 per cent said they could not.

Twenty per cent said they were relying on the Government to help them out of their difficulties. Just over 30 per cent said they would cut spending.

A total of 28.8 per cent urged the Government to cut the tax rate or grant a tax rebate while 21.6 per cent hoped for a cut in government fees.

The survey was conducted by Lingnan University and commissioned by RTHK.