Conception and Measurement of poverty: e.g. poverty line, calorie intake, social assistance level,

1. Absolute poverty–

• Someone is absolutely poor (赤貧) if s/he is below subsistence level, i.e. sufficient to meet needs of food, shelter, clothing and commuting.

2. Relative poverty

• In different societies, there are different conceptions of being poor. A poor person in an affluent society may be considered as rich in a poor country. A person earning 50% of the median income in Hong Kong (about $5,000) is quite well off in Bangladesh where the average wage is less than HK$400 per month.
• There are different methods of defining or designating the "poor" stratum in society:

• It usually refers to a designated income level;
• Method: choose a certain proportion of all wage earners (e.g. the lowest 10%, the lowest quintile, etc.), the upper limit of such income group constitutes the "poverty line". Or, choose a certain percentage of the median income, e.g. 45% or 50% of the median income in the population.

• The poor have to spend most of their income for food, thus they have no extra money to buy other non-food items. Beyond the subsistence level, the poor will begin to spend a lower percentage of income in food. Thus, the level of poverty can defined as the level of income at which increased income will lead to decrease in percentage of income spent on food. Similar approach is to study the items that poor people cannot afford to spend and then identify the income level below which the people will behave in such a manner as the poverty line.

• It refers to the ownership of material items as indicator of being appropriate to or below a certain general pattern of living in the society (e.g. ownership of automobile in USA). Those who cannot afford to have such living pattern or consumption pattern will be defined as poor.

Causes of poverty

There can be different ‘theories’ or value positions explaining the origin or cause of poverty in society:

• ill health because of unhealthy life style, illiterate, unskilled, work ethics, low motivations, etc.;

• disaster, accidents, structural unemployment, discrimination, class structure, etc.

Causes of poverty and social policies

"Deserving Poor" is the concept referring to the targeted poor that the public would like to help as distinguished from those who are "not deserving" and thus should not be helped or at most helped in a limited way. For example, poor lazy people are not considered as "deserving", while poor people not because of faults of themselves, such as victims of natural disasters , are "deserving poor".

Responsibility and social policies

Whose responsibilities for meeting individual needs? Individual, family or society? If the primarily responsibility rests on the individuals, then only minimal help is provided. If the primarily responsibility rest on the families, then only minimal help is provided and if provided it will go through the family as a unit (e.g. old persons living with a family if applying public assistance has to made through the family as a unit).

• "social" = "societal", as distinct from, and complementary to, or substitute other natural support systems i.e. family, kinship system, neighbour/ community;
• "security" = as against risk, misfortune, failure, poverty

Functions and Goals of Social Security

1) on individual level:

• income protection at times of contingencies (e.g. illness, unemployment, maternity, ...etc.) and alleviate individual sufferings;
• distribution of resources over one's lifetime for future possible risks.

2) on society level:

• communal/societal pooling of resources for sharing of risk, mutual help in modern industrial society;
• social stabilization for economic production;
• egalitarian income redistribution.

Forms and Structures of Social Security

1) State social security - public assistance (means test); or cash allowance (non-means test)

2) Central Provident Fund – the tripartite collaboration

3) Occupational insurance - labour insurance, unions protection, unemployment insurance

4) Private insurance - self responsibility

5) Private savings and family responsibility

6) Charities

Public assistance (PA)

- maintenance of basic living standard (poverty line); non-contributory;

- means-tested eligibility criteria.

Social insurance (SI)

- insurance against illness, disability, pregnancy, retirement, unemployment, ...etc.

- contributory; non-means-tested (no eligibility criteria);

- social / collective responsibility for individual.

• contributory, voluntary or compulsory saving;
• individual responsibility for self;
• can be ‘central’ CPF (centrally management by the government or a single statutory body). HK is now having the Mandatory PF (MPF), i.e. contribution required by law but privately operated, i.e. individual employer together with their employee chooses the provident fund service provider in the private market, e.g. banks, insurance company.

• non-means-tested; certain eligibility criteria;
• payment in terms of special needs allowance.
• E.g. in HK: Old Age Allowance (all those aged 70 or above are eligible, irrespective of being rich or poor), DA as certified by medical practitioners.

Evaluation of social security scheme:

SOCIAL SECURITY IN HONG KONG

Hong Kong Government Policy Rationale:

1. safety net approach (social welfare policy)

2. to help those least able to help themselves

3. government's role to complement family's role in a Chinese society of HK

• Social security field units all over the territory for CSSA & Special Needs Allowance Centralized units for Criminal & Law Enforcement Injuries (CLEICS), Compensation Scheme and the Traffic Accident Victims Assistance Scheme. (TAVAS)
• Assessment of applications processed by non-professional social work staff;
• Social Security Appeal Board to hear appeals if claimants are not satisfied of the results:

Development of social security in Hong Kong

Pre-1971: assistance in kind (i.e. food and clothing)

71 Government assumed the responsibility, assistance began in cash benefit : Public Assistance (PA) Scheme

73 Introduction of Special Need Allowance, Old Age Allowance (OAA), Disability Allowance (DA)

78 Introduction of long term supplement and disregarded income as supplement to PA;

78 Establishment of Social Security Appeal Board

88 Gradual lowering of OAA eligibility from 70 to 65, but 70-below has to declare income

93 Implementation of new scheme CSSA, replacing the old PA scheme, merging the Old Age Supplement (similar to OAA) with PA, etc.

98/99 review of CSSA: lowering of basic rate, compulsory job-seeking, community service, Active Employment Assistance programme.