More than a million people live in poverty in Hong Kong, with the working poor making up a large percentage of this number. When the statutory minimum wage was implemented in 2011, many had high hopes.

Developed countries like the US, Britain, Ireland and New Zealand all have low-income family subsidy schemes or tax credits to tackle poverty among the working poor and encourage people to find work. Yet in Hong Kong, a place that values the work ethic, there are no similar measures to support the more than 170,000 working poor families - equivalent to half the poor population.