One in three elderly Hongkongers living in poverty despite slight overall drop in number of poor
Total number of poor has dropped, Carrie Lam reveals, but growing ranks of retirees mean more will rely on handouts from government
Hong Kong faces an "uphill battle" against poverty despite the latest figures revealing a slight drop in the number of people living below the official line that defines who is poor, says the city's chief secretary.
More than 1.3 million - out of a population of just under 7.2 million - still live in poverty, according to an annual government report released yesterday. The problem is particularly acute among the elderly, approximately one in three of whom live below the poverty line.
However, official intervention in the form of welfare and the fact that official measures only take income, not assets, into account, may skew the figures.
Speaking at the Commission on Poverty Summit yesterday, Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said tackling poverty as society experienced "extremely fast-ageing" would be "an uphill battle". She cited figures showing elderly poverty had increased by 19 per cent - from 366,500 poor elderly in 2009 to 436,400 in 2014.
The total number of poor in the city was 1.325 million in 2014, slightly lower than the 1.336 million in 2013.
After government cash intervention - such as the old age living allowance and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance - the number of poor drops to 962,000, roughly 15 per cent of the population.
More elderly people meant more retirees, who often fell into the poor category because many no longer had a monthly income, said Professor Paul Yip Siu-fai of the University of Hong Kong.
Nelson Chow Wing-sun, social work professor at HKU and an expert in retirement protection, said while elderly poverty was still serious, the government's Old Age Living Allowance - a HK$2,200 monthly handout to needy people who pass a means test - had improved the situation.
"They are still under the poverty line, but the gap has narrowed at least," said Chow.
The government set up a poverty line in 2013. The line is drawn at half the median household income according to household size - so those who live below it are considered poor. The 2014 statistics show that one-person households with HK$3,500 or less will be considered as living in poverty. For two-person households, the line is drawn at HK$8,500 income a month, and for four-person households, HK$16,400 a month.
Around 706,000 people in poverty are in "working poor" families - where at least one member of the family has a job.
Sham Shui Po has the highest poverty rate at 18.2 per cent, followed by Kwai Tsing at 16.9 per cent and Kwun Tong at 16.7 per cent. The least poor district is Sai Kung, with a poverty rate of 10 per cent.
The director of the Society for Community Organisation, social work veteran Ho Hei-wah, said he was disappointed at the rate of poverty alleviation measures.
"The government had stressed that economic development is the way to pull people out of poverty, but in reality this has not helped. Many people still rely on government welfare support," said Ho, who also sits on the commission.
The summit yesterday was chaired by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and attended by seven government bureau chiefs or permanent secretaries and representatives.
