Leong Che-hung, the new Elderly Commission chief, is seeking a scheme which will benefit every member of society
A future retirement scheme for Hong Kong should cover housewives and people who are not covered by the Mandatory Provident Fund, the new head of the government's top advisory body on policy for the elderly said.
Elderly Commission chairman Leong Che-hung said the main problem with the five-year-old MPF was that it was of little help to those who started making contributions when they had almost reached retirement age.
'I am now 66 and I was told last year I could have collected only $20,000 from the MPF. This would not be enough for me to survive for the next 25 years. Also, housewives are not paid workers and have never made any contributions, but they will get old too,' Dr Leong said.
Census and Statistics Department figures show Hong Kong has about 652,000 full-time housewives who are unpaid home-makers, and 13,300 men who are in the same situation.
In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Dr Leong warned that only about 20 per cent of Hong Kong's working population had retirement security on top of the MPF such as provident funds and other retirement schemes provided by their employers.
'We are talking about 80 per cent of the working population who do not have retirement security, not including housewives. I am very keen to look at the issue ... not only because the issue is important, but also because it will take time to formulate a scheme,' Dr Leong said.
