Unemployment rate for disabled people in Hong Kong eight times higher than official figure, survey finds
Six welfare groups call for more government support after more than half in poll claim exiting policies contribute little or nothing to their job searches
The official unemployment rate for Hong Kong’s disabled population does not reflect reality, social welfare groups complained as a survey carried out by an employment network for the disabled found 48 per cent of such individuals were jobless.
The finding stands in stark contrast with the 6 per cent stated by the government in its last report, which was published in 2013.
The network of six social groups called for more government support as more than half of the 337 people in the poll said existing policies contributed little or nothing to job searches. In addition, the 18 employers who were interviewed in the poll requested more information and resources as well as less red tape to help them.
Wong Yu-cheung, an associate professor of social work at Chinese University, led the survey in May and explained that the city’s official definition of unemployment excluded jobless people who were not seeking a post in the past half year.
