Poverty & social exclusion in Hong Kong

The aim of this thesis was to develop and test new methods of studying poverty
and investigate the extent and prevalence of poverty in a changing society and give insights
to policy makers for allocating resources to those people who are in real need. The thesis
has 4 main elements - (1) analysis of the relevant Hong Kong and British literature; (2) a
secondary data analysist he 1% sample of the 2001 Population Census (the 1% sample); (3)
analysis of the survey of living standards in Hong Kong (LS survey); and (4) a comparison
of similarities and differences of the key results of the 1% sample and the LS survey, and
of the findings of the LS survey and the 1999 Poverty and Social Exclusion Survey (the PSE
survey) of the United Kingdom.
The development of a theoretical framework for the analysis of poverty and social
exclusion in Hong Kong has utilized ideas from Britain and other European countries
since poverty studies have had a long history in these countries. The relevance of western
categorisations or approaches to a very different society needs to be explored and
examined. The present study provides more up-to-date information on definitions and
measurement of poverty and social exclusion by utilizing ideas from the United Kingdom
and other European countries and hopes to contribute to the development of an improved
theoretical framework for the analysis of poverty and social exclusion in Hong Kong. In
addition, those previous local poverty studies were useful as showing clearly where poverty
research in Hong Kong has got to, its achievements and limitations and form the base of
the focus of the LS survey in Hong Kong. They give insights as to how the LS survey might
fill some of the gaps of the existing poverty research.
There are three research elements in the thesis. First, a secondary data analysis of
the 1% sample from the Hong Kong 2001 Population Census was undertaken to provide an
updated profile of low-income households in Hong Kong. The sample was drawn from
the most recent Population Census by a random sample selection to ensure data accuracy.
This study was the first attempt to adopt Bradshaw & Middleton's equivalised income
measure (Gordon, et al., 2000: 86-87) to identify the number Of low-income households
with reference to various definitions of low-income, and also examine the socio-economic
and demographic characteristics of these low-income households in Hong Kong.