Oxfam Hong Kong released its "Hong Kong Poverty Report 2023: A Polarised Recovery in the Post-Pandemic Era" today (Sept. 19), which analyzed data from the Census and Statistics Department. It found that the overall poverty rate reached 20 percent in the first quarter of 2023, with over 1.36 million people living in poverty.
According to the report, in the first quarter of this year, the median monthly income for the poorest ten percent of households was only HK$2,300, a drastic drop of more than one-third (34.3 percent) compared to before the pandemic. The second decile also saw a decrease of around 6 percent. In contrast, the wealthiest ten percent of households had a median monthly income of HK$132,600, a growth of over 10 percent since 2019. Even families in the ninth decile saw an 8.8 percent increase. The overall median household income was HK$29,500, a slight increase of 1.7 percent (HK$500) from before the pandemic.
Oxfam Hong Kong believes that as HK recovers from the pandemic, the city is also experiencing structural changes, particularly in terms of its aging population, decline in household sizes, and changes in the nature of low-skilled positions in the labor market. These factors have made poverty in HK more complex. Oxfam HK proposes the following recommendations:
Adjust minimum wage annually to ensure basic income protection and attract (potential) labor force;
Promote a living wage to enhance social mobility;
Urge HK Stock Exchange to make "social" disclosure in ESG reporting mandatory and add living wage reporting;
Support subdivided flat residents and expand the Community Living Room project to all 18 districts according to the subdivided flat population in each area;
Promote community economy and bazaars;
Support more impactful social innovation projects by encouraging collaboration among government, businesses, and NGOs;
Improve childcare services to offer economically inactive women the option of joining the workforce;
Enhance protection for casual workers and create more flexible job positions in the public sector;
Review the effectiveness of the Employment Programme for the Elderly and Middle-aged.
Comment