Letters | How Hong Kong can measure poverty more effectively

Readers propose a framework the government can use to assess poverty, and point out a barrier to those who want to buy second-hand homes

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A homeless man sleeps in front of a shuttered shop in Mong Kok in April 2022. Photo: Edmond So

Published: 11:30am, 29 Mar 2024

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The Hong Kong government is reviewing the official measurement of poverty. The poverty line has been set at half of the median domestic household income before policy intervention. Given the limitations of using income as the only indicator of poverty, the government aims to measure poverty through a multidimensional approach to enable targeted poverty alleviation. The question is how multidimensional poverty should be measured in the local context.

A study I conducted together with professors at Polytechnic University and at NYU Shanghai proposed a comprehensive poverty measurement. The study was published in the Journal of Asian Public Policy in June last year.

We combined three different concepts of poverty – income, deprivation and social exclusion – within a multidimensional framework. The comprehensive poverty measurement forms a more complete picture of poverty. Income reflects economic sufficiency; deprivation focuses on socially perceived necessities and considers the real situation of a poverty-stricken life; and social exclusion deals with social barriers to participation in socioeconomic activities.

Using data from a citywide representative survey, the study applied the innovative multidimensional measurement of poverty in Hong Kong’s context. Our results showed that, according to the comprehensive poverty measurement, Hong Kong’s poverty rate was 6.1 per cent.

Individuals who were immigrants, aged 65 or over, had low levels of education and poor health, and received social assistance were more likely to be comprehensively poor. More importantly, public rental housing is an effective policy in alleviating poverty across various dimensions.