Introduction
Hong Kong is one of the richest city in the world, however, the disparity between the rich and the poor has been dramatically widened over the past few years. Issues regarding poverty worsens as time pass, and can no longer be neglected.
Being one of the most densely populated metropolises, Hong Kong is built up of approximately 7.5 million people of various nationalities. It is known for its fruitful self-orientated economy, free trade and low taxation. To the public, Hong Kong's poverty is rarely considered as a large problematic factor. However, in reality during the year 2013, as much as 19.6 percent of the city's population could be classified as poor (15.2 percent if regular cash welfare payments are included). Compared to countries such as Britain, the US, France and Korea (using the same formula), the city’s poverty line is considerably high, with Korea the only one lower, at 17.3 percent.
This calls upon the need to raise awareness in hopes of finding various solutions to create an equal and fair society.
Districts
Poverty is defined as 'the state of being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount'. According to a the ‘Hunger stats’ by Feeding Hong Kong , 1 in 5 Hong Kong residents live in poverty; nearly 40% of the Hong Kong population live in subsidised public housing; over a thousand people still remain homeless and 100,000 people live in coffin, cage homes and rooftops, despite government efforts. After the latest census in 2015, Sham Shui Po was found to be the poorest district in Hong Kong in which the monthly average income of each household was around HK$18,000. The following poorest districts were Kwun Tong with average incomes of HK$19,000 and Kwai Tsing with HK$19,600. These monthly average incomes are well below the territory average of HK$23,500 as a whole. On the other hand, the wealthiest districts were Central and the Western areas of Hong Kong. Here, the monthly average income of each household in Central and Western stood at HK$35,000.
Cage homes
Today, cage homes are described as wire mesh boxes, the size of coffins. People living in sever pover is forced to live in these low standard households, not only so but they are required to pay unreasonably high rents. Cage homes are often located in Sham Shui Po, Yau Ma Tei and Wan Chai. These are poorer areas compared to Central or other wealthier areas of Hong Kong.
Residents living in cage homes are obligated to live in an area approximately 6ft long and 2 1/2 / 3ft wide space, with hardly any expanse to fit their belongings.
A sudden expansion in the local populations from the 1950s - 60s due to an increase of refugees from mainland China has caused the rising amount of cage homes. Due to the increase in population the demand for small, low costing apartments have expand. In the late 60s, there were approximately 500-600 cage homes. In the early 1990s, Hong Kong government established a law regarding Bedspace Apartments Ordinance in order to control the amount of cage homes. “Bedspace" is defied as floor space, bed or any sleeping facility designed for one person.
Poverty statistics + causes
According to an annual government report in 2015, out of the population of just under 7.2 million, more than 1.3 million people still live in poverty. The problem is particularly serious amongst elderly, approximately one in three of whom live below the poverty line. The total number of poor in the city was 1.325 million in 2014, just slightly lower than the 1.336 million in 2013. Although statistics shows that there is a slight improvement on reducing poverty over the years, it clearly shows that the changes are not obvious enough.
Although there are government fundings, as seen from the government cash intervention reports such as the old age living allowance and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ; the number of poor drops to 962,000 roughly 15% of the population.
One of the most common cases of elderly people falling into the poor category is because many no longer had monthly income. The government's Old Age Living Allowance of HKD2,200 monthly handout is clearly not enough for to substance Hong Kong's expensive housing costs.
The government set up a poverty lin in 2013, the line drawn is based on half the average household income according to household size. Poverty line shows people liviging below it are considered poor. The 2014 statistics shows that one -person households with HKD$3,500 or less will be considered as living in poverty. As for two-person households, living under HKD$8,500 income a month, four-person housholds, HKD$16,400 a month are considered living in poverty.
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