Working poor families living in Hong Kong have increased in the last 10 years, and one in six people now live below the poverty line, according to a new study from Oxfam.
The Oxfam Poverty Report looked at the situation of poor families with at least one working member from 2003 to 2012.
In the second quarter of 2012, there were 658,100 people living in working poor households in Hong Kong, the highest figure ever recorded. The wealth gap has also widened over the past decade.
A “working poor household” is defined as a family with a least one working member that makes less than 50 percent of the median income for all households of a corresponding size.
Under these rules, one in every six people in the territory lives below the poverty line.
By the second quarter of 2012, Oxfam found that the median income of the richest 10 percent of Hong Kong households was 26.1 times more than the poorest 10 percent.
Those in the poorest group bring just HKD3,400 home a month (up from HKD3,000 in 2003), while the monthly income for the richest households has increased by almost 30 percent over the same timeframe.
Working poor households also have more dependents, with 65 percent looking after children below 15 or elderly relatives above 65. On average, each employed member of a working poor family must support two dependents, compared to 0.8 for non-poor households.
Oxfam has urged the government to adjust the minimum wage annually against inflation and to introduce protection policies to improve living standards for Hong Kong’s working poor. They also recommend a Low Income Family Allowance.
Photo: Myriam Tsen-Kung/Coconuts Media
