2009 October’s Issue
A study by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS) showed that the poverty rate in Hong Kong had increased from 17.6% last year to 17.9% in the first half of 2009. In others words, a record high of 1.23 million Hong Kong residents were living under the poverty line.
Using data from the government, poverty in the study is defined as earning an income equal to or less than half the median monthly domestic household income, which is set according to the number of members in a family. The figure was HK$6,750 for a two-member family, HK$9,150 for a three-member family and HK$12,650 for families with four or more members.
The poverty rate is the highest in the age group of 65 and above, with 32.1%, or 270,000, living below the poverty line. But that of 45 to 65 has the highest number of poor people, with the figure reaching 34,300.
HKCSS expressed concern about young people living under poverty. Poverty in the age group of 15 to 24 rose from 15.4% ten years ago to 20% this year. This means there are 176,000 teens and young adults living in poverty. This age group had the highest unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2009, at 12.6%, which is more than twice that among 25-39-year-old.
The chief executive, Christine Fang, said, “Many people think that Hong Kong's economy is reviving as the property market and the stock market are faring well ... but the number of people living under the poverty line reflects that the grass roots have not benefited from the so-called economic revival. In fact, poverty is getting worse.”
The study also found that the rich-poor divide had widened over the past two decades. The median income of high-income earners was 3.6 times that of low-income earners. The first group's median income had increased 34.7% over the past 20 years, while that of low-income earners dropped 3.3% over the same period.
Fang called on the government to immediately introduce a minimum wage and allocate more resources to youth training. She suggested that the government create more temporary jobs to ease unemployment now.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in response to the survey findings, said a series of measures had been introduced to help low-income earners. Job retraining was one measure aimed at putting an end to youth and cross-generational poverty.
Adapted from the article “Record high number of people in poverty” by Austin Chiu,
published in South China Morning Post on 28 September, 2009.
Vocabulary
|
Words |
Part of Speech |
Meaning |
|
poverty |
n. |
the state of being poor (貧窮) |
|
median |
adj. |
having a value in the middle of a series of numbers arranged in order of size (中位數的) |
|
figure |
n. |
a number representing an amount (數字) |
|
quarter |
n. |
a period of three months (季度) |
|
fare |
v. |
to experience good or bad fortune, treatment, etc (過活、進展) |
|
rich-poor divide |
n. phr. |
the difference between the rich and the poor (貧富差距) |
|
decade |
n. |
a period of ten years (十年) |
|
allocate |
v. |
to give something to somebody (分配) |
|
temporary |
adj. |
lasting for a short time (暫時的) |
|
measure |
n. |
an action that is done in order to achieve an aim (措施) |
Questions for
F.1 – F.3
Questions for F.4 – F.5
Questions for F.6 – F.7
Answer Key
F.1 – F.3
|
a |
temporary |
f |
quarters |
|
b |
poverty |
g |
figure |
|
c |
allocate |
h |
median |
|
d |
measures |
i |
rich-poor divide |
|
e |
decades |
j |
fared |
F.4 – F.5
|
1 |
c |
2 |
b |
3 |
a |
|
||
|
a |
property market |
e |
introducing a minimum wage |
|||||
|
b |
stock market |
f |
allocating more resources to youth training |
|||||
|
c |
grass roots |
g |
cross-generational poverty |
|||||
|
d |
20 / twenty |
|
||||||
a and b can be swapped.
e and f can be swapped.
Lai Chack Middle School
Winners of Monthly News Review Competition
(2009 October’s Issue)
The Best Participation Class Award:
2A, 3A, 4D (100%)
Individual Prize winners:
Form 1-3:
1A(6) 馮莎華 FENG SHAHUA
1A(8) 郭子晴 KWOK TSZ CHING
1A (19) 尹天心 WAN TIN SUM
1A (34) 甘俊鋒 GAN JUN FENG
2A (33) 劉偉樂 LOU WAI LOK
Form 4-5:
5A (11) 唐妍 TONG YIN
5A (12) 温莹 WAN YING
Form 6-7:
6A(11) 王紅吉 WONG HUNG KAT
6A (18) 陳順祥 CHEN SHUNXIANG
6A (20) 鍾志華 CHUNG CHI WAH
6A (23) 林雄祥 LAM HUNG CHEUNG
7A(18) 吳輝健 NG FAI KIN