(The Standard P.8
20 Mar 2013) For families
earning from HK$10,000 to HK$20,000 a month life is the most painful, a survey
shows.
Researchers at Shue Yan University's Economic
And Wellbeing Project (樹仁大學經濟與民生研究計劃) interviewed 1,500 people by telephone last
month and found households in that income group are earning too much to benefit
from social welfare but too little to handle daily living pressure without
outside assistance (無助).
According to
the latest Census and Statistics Department figures (政府統計處數字) of 2011, such
families represent (代表) 33.8percent of
all households in the territory.
The same survey also found that those aged 55
to 64 are the most anxious, fearing a lack of protection (缺乏保障) after retirement.
Of six livelihood problems, housing (36.4
percent) is the top worry, followed by inflation (通貨膨脹) (29.13percent), poverty (16.4percent), work
(10.67percent), pollution (3.6percent) and aging (老化) (3.6percent).
The survey also found when household income rises,
the percentage of housing problems increases.
About 30percent of households with incomes of
less than HK$5,000 said housing causes them the most worry.
No to be outdone（不甘示弱）,
53percent of households with incomes of HK$50,000 or above said housing problems
are the most difficult.
The survey also revealed (顯示）that
34percent of households with incomes of less than HK$5,000 said inflation is
most painful for them. But for households with incomes of HK$50,000 or above,
only 17 percent worry about inflation.
Thomas Yuen Wai-kee, associate head of the
department of economics and finance, said he did not expect 70percent of
respondents to describe their lives as "painful."
"While the cost of public services, food
prices and daily necessities keep soaring （日常必需品持續上升）, low- and middle-income groups are facing
great pressure," Yuen said.
He called on the government to consider more
policies to help tackle inflation (有助對抗通脹), such as offering cash handouts of
HK$6,000.
Winnie Chong
The surplus of Hong Kong budget 2013/2014 was over than 600 billion. It was good news to the public. However, most residents were disappointed with the Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah after he had delivered his 2013-2014 Budget Speech. It is because that some of them expected they could benefit from the budget, the “N-nothing group” hoped to get the social welfare of allowances to ease their difficulties and some wished to receive the candy of cash handouts.
回覆刪除According to a survey by Shue Yan University’s Economic and Wellbeing Project, it shows that 70% of 1,500 respondents described their lives as “painful” and it points out some are confronting housing problems from soaring property price, some are facing pressure from inflation and some are living below the poverty line. The report reflects that most Hong Kong people, who are not only the grass-roots but also the middle class, are unhappy, unsatisfied and worried about their living. It is alarming.
Keeping a sense of crisis for its governance, the administration should awaken to the roots of the problem. Besides, the government has such a great deal of budget for this financial year. It should make long term policies instead one-off. It should launch a variety of measures to help the underprivileged to alleviate their hardship. Furthermore, it should set up a perfect housing scheme to crack down on the housing market, to cool the soaring property price and to ensure that Hong Kong Housing Authority and Housing Department work together to supply more units for Hong Kong permanent residents.
If the government had found the central to the housing issue and dared to challenge the property developers to show its determination to clamp down on the property market, the middle class would have afforded to pay the property price.
May Wong