behind as usual and contributing to a dormant thread...
as the Hang Seng index was climbing above 10,000, the SAR gov't was rejecting a proposal to establish a minimum wage in HK...it also released figures indicating that 700,000 workers make less than 50% of HK's present media income (HK $10,500 US $1,346)...this means that over 20% of HK's 3.3 million workers is poor according to the OECD classification...another 130,000 earn between one-half & two-thirds of the median...
HK has no official "poverty line" and the gov't has rejected proposals to establish one so above figures do not take into account hundreds of thousands of impoverished children under age 15 (legal employment age)... these conditions exist despite the fact that HK has one of the highest per capita incomes in world...
the unemployment rate in HK remains above 5% - now acceptable in the US as a 'natural' rate of unemployment, isn't it? - and is rising...this is more than double the rate prior to the onset of the financial crisis... unemployment among workers under 20 years of age is currently over 40%...the school drop-out rate is very high among working class students who, consequently, lack skills and education qualifications...the government has done nothing to initiate measures to provide more job opportunities...
the poorest 20% of HK households share about 4% of the income and the richest 20% share about 53%...the gap continues to increase...HK has no official figures on distribution of wealth but it has the highest concentration of millionaires and billionaires per capital in the world. ..the richest of the rich - Lee Shau Kee, the Kwok Bros., Li Ka-shing, Nina Wang (2nd wealthiest woman on the planet), Cheng Yu-tung, Stanley Ho, Henry Fok - are all real estate moguls...
HK retailers have reported a 20% drop in sales - steepest decline this year - as consumer confidence was further undermined by currency instability...gov't intervention (HK $118 billion US $15 billion) into the stock market added further woes to fragile spending sentiment, already undermined by wage reductions and high unemployment...decline in retail sales exceeded projections by about 15%, suggesting that the SAR's recession has worsened...Michael Hoover
re: HK distribution of wealth...the gov't Census and Statistics Dept. maintains no such data...I've followed a number of leads and contacted many other possible sources to no avail...I've even asked for proxies such as distribution of investment income, assumption of people's earning, similar rate of return from wealth...would appreciate any help listers may be able to provide, e-mail me off-list if that is more appropriate at hoov at freenet.tlh.fl.us