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The Government adopts a three-pronged strategy to tackle the problem of poverty, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, said today (September 22).
The three pillars are: promoting Hong Kong's overall economic growth to sustain employment and create more job opportunities; equipping our people with the means to move up the social ladder through education and training/retraining; and providing a sturdy and sustainable safety net for the needy, the disadvantaged and the under-privileged.
Speaking at the Hong Kong Democratic Foundation luncheon, Mr Cheung analysed the problems facing Hong Kong on the issue of poverty and the Government's response to the challenges.
He stressed that we must ensure that everyone has a fair opportunity to contribute to, and benefit from, our society's economic and social development, and that education had a key role to play in this respect.
"Education can effectively enhance social mobility and reduce inter-generational poverty. This explains why the Government attaches great importance to education, which takes up 23.4% of the Government's total recurrent expenditure - the largest share among all policy areas," he said.
For those who cannot support themselves financially owing to old age, disability, illness, unemployment, low earnings, etc, Mr Cheung said that the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme would help them meet their basic needs, and that the Social Security Allowance Scheme provides largely non-means tested grants to elders and persons with severe disabilities.
"Excluding one-off additional payments, the estimated total expenditure of these two schemes in 2010-11 is $27.5 billion, or $75 million per day, representing around 12% of the Government's total recurrent expenditure, or about 69% of the total recurrent expenditure on social welfare," he said.
In addition, our 12-year free education, heavily subsidised healthcare system and major public housing programme (which accommodates 30% of our population in low-rent public housing and another 18% in subsidised home ownership flats) combine to provide essential social and economic cushions for our people.
"All these public services add up to 57% of the recurrent government expenditure," he said.
Noting that there is a growing interest of the business sector and the more affluent members of our community in poverty alleviation, Mr Cheung said the Government welcomed more concerted efforts to build a more caring, compassionate and harmonious society, and stood ready to work hand in hand with all sectors to improve the well-being of the disadvantaged and light up their lives with hope and dignity.
Admitting that poverty was a hard nut to crack and a problem facing many advanced economies, Mr Cheung stressed that the Hong Kong SAR Government had never dodged the issue or shied away from finding the best possible solutions to help the poor.
"But it is important that we all see it in its proper perspective and tackle it head-on and in a-matter-of-fact manner," he said.
He noted that the former Commission on Poverty had devised a set of 24 multi-dimensional indicators to gauge the overall poverty situation in Hong Kong, taking into account the actual situation and needs of the poor and their families, including their access to essential services and opportunities such as housing, health care, education and employment.
"On this basis, it is estimated that around 838,000 people lived in poor households in 2009," he said.
Mr Cheung said that the fast-ageing population which resulted in more smaller-sized and elderly households, as well as the drastic economic restructuring and demographic change in the past decade, all contributed to the problem of poverty and the widening wealth gap.
"Our latest unemployment figures are rather telling on this score. With the local economy gradually coming out of the woods, our latest unemployment rate has dropped to 4.2%, 1.3 percentage points down from the peak of 5.5% in mid-2009.
"However, the unemployment rate for the highly educated and more skilful stands at 2.3% while that for the lower-skilled reaches 4.8%. This disparity inevitably leads to a polarisation of wages and a widening income gap," he said.
While the stream of new arrivals from the Mainland who come to settle here for family reunion contribute to our population growth, they also enlarge the pool of our workforce at the low end.
"It is noteworthy that the number of elementary jobs has been shrinking. Over the past decade, demand for lower-skilled workers saw a 1% drop, while that for higher-skilled ones rose by a hefty 33%. This mismatch in supply and demand in the labour market partly explains the surge in the number of low-income families," he said.
On the suggestion that the Government should re-establish the Commission on Poverty (CoP), Mr Cheung said that the Task Force on Poverty, headed by him, was set up immediately after the CoP concluded its work in 2007, to coordinate efforts among various government bureaux and departments in putting the Commission's 53 recommendations into practice.
"Many of the recommendations, for example, the Transport Support Scheme (TSS) and the Child Development Fund (CDF), have already been implemented," he said.
The TSS aims at providing a transport subsidy over a period of time to encourage low-income employees and needy job-seekers living in four remote districts (North, Tuen Mun, Yuen Long and Islands Districts) to seek and secure employments.
"We are now seriously considering how best to ease the burden of transport costs faced by low-income earners in the wider community in commuting to and from work. Our aim is to come up with concrete proposals by the end of this year," he said.
As for the CDF, which will benefit 13,600 children from low-income families, it seeks to reduce inter-generational poverty, which is one of the Government¡¦s major concerns.
"We are concerned not just about the tangible wealth gap, but also the resulting social, psychological and emotional gaps between children from a disadvantaged background and those from better-off families. If not plugged, these gaps could turn into life-long social exclusion," he added.
Noting that tripartite approach is indeed the key and the way forward in building a more caring, compassionate and harmonious society, Mr Cheung cited the Partnership Fund for the Disadvantaged and the Community Investment and Inclusion Fund as two shining examples of tripartite and cross-sector collaboration in enhancing social cohesion.
"Take Tin Shui Wai as an example. The Community Investment and Inclusion Fund has invested heavily in terms of funding, energy and efforts in this remote district with a view to building community network, fostering a strong sense of good neighbourliness and bringing hope, social cohesion and opportunities to the new town," he said.
Mr Cheung also updated the audience on the latest state of play on putting in place a statutory minimum wage in Hong Kong.
"The Government's conscious and bold decision to go for a minimum wage, despite all odds, represents a significant breakthrough in the protection of our workers at the grassroots. A minimum wage will not eradicate poverty, but will go a long way towards easing the difficulties of the working poor. Gone will be the days of blatant exploitation through paying excessively low wages.
The Minimum Wage Bill, which was passed two months ago, aims to arrive at an optimal minimum hourly wage floor to forestall excessively low wages without, at the same time, unduly affecting our labour market flexibility, economic growth and competitiveness as well as causing a significant loss in low-paid jobs.
"With the understanding and cooperation of all stakeholders, I am confident that we can get this fine balance right," he said.
The Provisional Minimum Wage Commission will shortly submit its recommendation on the initial wage rate to the Government for consideration. If everything goes well, the statutory minimum wage regime will be in place in the first half of next year.
Ends/Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Issued at HKT 19:05
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