Equal opportunity essential in Hong Kong poverty fight
News items reflect the dilemma of a wealthy, ageing society that blunders into a trap through the lack of a coherent retirement income policy and planning
Hong Kong has long since learned to its cost that waiting for the so-called trickle-down effect of economic prosperity to address economic inequality further down the ladder is futile. Now it is learning that an ageing population can make the problem of poverty much worse. Two recent news items demonstrate the dilemma of a wealthy, ageing society that blunders into a poverty trap through the lack of a coherent retirement income policy and planning.
Both suggestions are contentious. As a result, those pessimistic about reducing poverty in the short term tend to focus on the next generation, and how to save it from an intergenerational poverty trap. That raises the issue of how government support should be divided between meeting a family’s basic needs and ensuring poverty does not deprive children of grass-roots families of the opportunity to build a better life. The purpose of the poverty line is to help the government assess the problem and better allocate money, for example by targeting equal opportunity for grass-roots children, such as through access to activities or learning aids. It is a worry that the situation of these children has apparently not improved much. Equal access will enable the next generation to enhance its own prospects and empower those from the grass roots to influence their own fate. Meanwhile, as the population gets older, more people can be expected to fall beneath the poverty line.
