China News Service, Hong Kong, December 23 (Reporter Zhang Xiaoxi) The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government released the "Hong Kong Poverty Situation Report 2019" on the 23rd, showing that due to severe disturbances from local social events, the impact of Hong Kong's grassroots families in 2019 is quite obvious. With the accelerated aging of the population and the continued miniaturization of households, Hong Kong’s poverty indicators are under unprecedented upward pressure.
The report pointed out that the poor population and poverty rate of Hong Kong before policy intervention in 2019 (pure theoretical assumptions) were 1,490,700 and 21.4% respectively, and the poverty alleviation effect of the constant cash policy in 2019 was a record high since the poverty line was announced in 2013. Successfully lifted 392,900 people out of poverty, the poverty rate was reduced by 5.6%, and the effectiveness was 0.1% higher than in 2018.
Under the current poverty line analysis framework, the main body analysis only considers the impact of constant cash policy intervention. Based on this calculation, the poverty rate in Hong Kong in 2019 increased by 0.9% to 15.8% compared with 2018, and the number of poor people increased by 73,500 to 109,780 .
The report shows that the Commission for Poverty Alleviation of the Special Administrative Region Government has positioned 50% of the median monthly household income before policy intervention (that is, before tax and social welfare transfer) as the poverty line.
Specifically, according to the household population, the poverty line in Hong Kong in 2019 is set at 4,500 yuan (HK$, the same below) for a household with 1 person, 10,000 yuan for 2 people, 16,600 yuan for 3 people, 21,400 yuan for 4 people, and 22,100 yuan for 5 people. , 6 people and above is 23,000 yuan.
It is worth noting that the report mentioned that more than 35% of the newly added poverty population in 2019 (after the intervention of the constant cash policy) came from working households, reflecting the deteriorating economic environment and the reduction in job opportunities, making the working poverty worse. .
The poverty rate of working households increased by 0.4% to 8.4% compared with 2018.
According to the report, due to the double blow of local social events and Sino-US trade frictions, Hong Kong's economy fell into recession for the first time since the 2009 global financial crisis in 2019, and the labor market weakened significantly in the second half of the year.
Severely disrupted by local social events, consumer and tourism-related industries have been hit hard, involving many lower-skilled jobs, so the impact on grassroots families is quite obvious.
The report also predicts that under the threat of the new crown pneumonia epidemic in 2020, the job market will further deteriorate, which will make the livelihoods of grassroots employees and family members worse.
The SAR government is committed to helping the public and all walks of life to tide over the difficulties.
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