Hong Kong’s middle class is increasingly resentful at the government, after Leung’s policy address, for doing little to help them. Many of the middle class are burdened under serious mortgage debts, expensive private health care, and a disappointing public education system.
With some of the most expensive homes in the world, middle class families have shared how a salary of HK$70,000 a month allows them none of the middle-class comforts most would expect them to have.
For example, for the Wong family, who lives in Tseung Kwan O, their HK$70,000 income vanishes quickly by paying $20,000 in mortgages, HK$15,000 in school fees, HK$6,000 for a domestic helper, and $10,000 to support parents, leaving them only HK$1,500 in spending money after accounting for all other expenses like transport, food, and utilities.
Many other middle-class families, posting on forums, agreed, and shared how even high incomes can’t catch up with exorbitant expenses. Critics have pointed out that Hong Kong’s middle class is exhibiting a trend of downward mobility, and that the government should have more initiatives to help the middle class to strive for upward mobility.
If HK$70,000 a month is not enough, how much do you think a middle class family needs to comfortably support a household of three?
Source: Sky Post
Photo: Michael E. Lee, Flickr
