Transcript Relative poverty (相對貧窮)

What is poverty?
Source:
Commission on Proverty, HKSAR Government
Labour and Welfare Bureau, HKSAR Government
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Types of poverty
1. Poverty is having less
than an objectively
defined, absolute
minimum.
1. 採用一個以客觀方法界
定的絕對最起碼生活水
平，未能達到這個水平
的，便屬貧窮。
2. Poverty is having less
than the others in
society, in relative terms.
2. 相對來說，所擁有的及
不上社會上其他人，便
屬貧窮。
3. Poverty is feeling you do
not have enough to get
along (subjective
poverty).
3. 自覺無法維持生計者，
便屬貧窮 (主觀貧窮)。
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Absolute poverty (絕對貧窮)
The absolutist approach to
defining poverty follows
the concept of minimum
subsistence; that is, those
with means inadequate to
afford a bundle of goods
and services that are
regarded as essential to the
physical need of an
individual or a family are
considered “poor”.
以絕對標準來界定貧窮的理
論基礎是「僅足生存」的概
念。換句話說，那些沒有足
夠資源負擔若干被認定是維
持生計必不可少的物品和服
務，便被視為貧窮。
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Absolute poverty (絕對貧窮)
The limitation of this
approach is that it focuses
on physical needs rather
than social needs.
這個標準的局限是它集中量
度人的實際需要，而忽視一
個人在社會上生活的需要。
What to include in the
bundle of “necessities” and
how each component should
be evaluated involve
subjective judgment and are
contentious.
如何認定那些物品和服務屬
「必不可少」，每個項目如
何評價，亦牽涉主觀判斷，
因而備受爭議。
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Relative poverty (相對貧窮)
People are living in relative
poverty when they lack the
resources to obtain the type
of diets, participate in the
activities and have the living
conditions and amenities
which are customary in the
societies to which they
belong.
人們如果缺乏資源享有社會
上一般人的慣常生活方式，
有相類的食用、活動、生活
條件以及享受，便算是生活
在相對貧窮中。
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Relative poverty (相對貧窮)
The usual measurement of
相對貧窮的量度方法，通常
relative poverty is a
是採用社會上收入中位數的
proportion of the median
一個比率。以這個方法量度
income in the society. The
貧窮的最大好處是其簡單易
greatest merit of this
行。
approach is its relative
simplicity in administration.
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Relative poverty (相對貧窮)
However, assessment based
on income does not fully
take into consideration the
actual consumption needs of
the poor. For instance, it
does not take into account
non-income benefits
provided by the
Government and other nongovernmental organisations.
The determination of the
proportion of the median
income (e.g. 50%, 60%) is
also unavoidably arbitrary.
不過，由於所量度的只是收
入，並未能充份計及貧困人
士的消費需要。例如，政府
和非政府組織所提供非收入
形式的福利項目，並無計算
在內。同時，應採用社會上
收入中位數的什麼比率(例
如百分之五十，百分之六
十)，亦無可避免涉及主觀
判斷。
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International comparison – World Bank
The poverty line for regions
各地區的貧窮線如下：
in abject poverty is set at
赤貧地區為每人每天1美元，
US$1 a day per person,
拉丁美洲為每人每天2美元，
US$2 for Latin America,
而東歐各國則為4美元。
US$4 for Eastern Europe,
在高收入經濟體系中，包括
and US$14.4 for high-
香港，每人每天14.4美元。
income economies,
including HK.
約為每天112.3港元或
每月2920港元（26工作天）
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Hong Kong poverty line
There is no official poverty line
in Hong Kong.
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Hong Kong poverty line
Since there is no consensus on the definition
of poverty in Hong Kong, non-government
researches usually adopt the concept of
relative poverty, i.e. half the median
household income, as the poverty
benchmark.
The percentage of population living below
this poverty benchmark is regarded as the
poverty rate.
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Examples of poor people in HK
- Persons unemployed for a long duration
- Employed persons whose income is less
than 50% of the median income
- Recipients under the Comprehensive
Social Security Assistance Scheme (CSSA)
- Non-CSSA recipients whose household
income falls below the CSSA assistance
level
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