Hong Kong Welfare Minister Defends Dropping Poverty Line for Aid Allocation
Quick Look
- Hong Kong's welfare minister defended the government's decision to remove the poverty line as an indicator for aid, stating it's a limited statistical concept focused solely on income.
- He argued it fails to identify needy groups like carers, whose varied needs will be addressed by a new commission.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Hong Kong's government has decided to stop using the poverty line as a primary indicator for allocating welfare assistance, opting instead for a more targeted approach. This decision has been defended by the welfare minister.
Hong Kong’s welfare minister has defended the government’s decision to drop the poverty line as an indicator for allocating assistance, saying it was a limited “statistical concept” that had failed to identify needy groups beyond those with low incomes, such as carers.
“The needs of carers are varied and they face many difficulties,” he said. “We will look into the issue after we set up a new commission on targeted poverty alleviation.”
This was in addition to the three existing groups – families living in subdivided flats, single-parent families and all-elderly households – identified by the Commission on Poverty in its report on the impact of the government’s targeted poverty alleviation strategy, released on Thursday.
Explaining why the poverty line had not been used in the new report, Sun said: “The biggest drawback is that it cannot tell you who is poor, what they need or how we should help them. It cannot tell at all.”
He called the poverty line a “very statistical concept that is purely based on income and takes no account of other things”.
Open Questions
- What specific criteria will the new commission use?
- How will carers' varied needs be practically addressed?
- What is the timeline for the new commission's setup?
