這次是自扶貧委員會在二○一三年首次公布官方「貧窮線」以來，第六次按年更新貧窮情況的分析。
張建宗表示：「二○一七年，政策介入前貧窮率為百分之二十點一。計入政府的恆常現金政策，二○一七年的貧窮率為百分之十四點七，維持在二○一六年的水平，反映香港的整體貧窮情況大致平穩，政府的扶貧成效有所增加。」
貧窮人口方面，政策介入前後數字均見微升（分別至1 376 600人及1 008 800人），這與過去幾年相似，部分受人口及住戶結構因素所影響。經濟顯著擴張及勞工市場趨緊，整體工資水平按年上升了百分之三點八。按住戶人數劃分的「貧窮線」門檻亦大多隨之而顯著上升。舉例而言，四人住戶「貧窮線」較二○一六年上升百分之七點六至一萬九千九百元。
除恆常現金措施外，政府一直投放大量資源，為基層市民提供各項非現金福利，當中公共租住房屋（公屋）至為重要。計及非現金福利（主要包括公屋）後，有額外288 000人脫貧，政策介入後的貧窮率進一步下降至百分之十點五。這反映公屋在扶貧工作上的重要角色，對減輕基層市民的住屋負擔和改善他們生活水平的成效毋容置疑。若再計及非恆常現金項目，政策介入後的貧窮率下降至百分之十三點九。
張建宗指出，貧窮情況數據反映眾多影響因素的綜合結果，包括政府扶貧政策措施的推行、受惠於政策措施的人數、經濟情況、整體就業收入的變化，以及人口結構轉變等，部分因素並非政府所能控制。加上不少惠民措施，例如長者醫療券、長者及合資格殘疾人士公共交通票價優惠計劃等免經濟審查措施的扶貧成效並未涵蓋在「貧窮線」分析框架當中。二○一七年整體貧窮人口雖然輕微上升，但不表示政府對扶貧工作投放的資源及成效有所減退。事實上，政府投放於社會福利的經常開支持續增加，二○一八／一九年度在社會福利的預算經常性開支達798億元，相對二○一二／一三年度大幅增加百分之八十六，反映政府扶貧工作的力度有增無減。
在政策介入的成效方面，二○一七年政府的恆常現金項目繼續為貧窮住戶提供有效的支援，成功令 367 900人脫貧，貧窮率大幅降低五點四個百分點，相較五年前高達一個百分點。其中，設有經濟審查的「綜合社會保障援助」（綜援）及「長者生活津貼」的減貧效果最為顯著，分別令整體貧窮率下降二點五個百分點及兩個百分點。
值得留意的是，政府於二○一七年五月起優化長者生活津貼，因此二○一七年的貧窮數據只反映了長津優化八個月的成效，故津貼的全年成效會於二○一八年的貧窮數據反映。在二○一七年，長津令91 200名長者脫貧，長者貧窮率下降八點二個百分點，是各項恆常現金項目當中對減低長者貧窮率最為有效的措施。另外，改善後的低收入在職家庭津貼（低津）計劃，即現時的在職家庭津貼（職津）計劃已於二○一八年四月推出。由於職津的申領期為過去的六個月，其部分扶貧成效（一至三個月）亦有反映在二○一七年貧窮數據分析當中。 職津／低津對兒童的成效亦較二○一六年有所提升，令兒童貧窮率下降一點一個百分點，與教育津貼的成效相若，反映計劃有助貧窮在職家庭內的兒童，紓緩跨代貧窮。
展望將來，在人口急速高齡化等的結構性趨勢、「貧窮線」門檻隨工資增長預料會持續上升等因素影響下，加上「貧窮線」只計算收入而沒有考慮資產，未來貧窮數字續見大幅改善的空間不大。不過，多項扶貧及支援長者的措施，包括長津、職津，以及香港年金有限公司的香港年金計劃等已陸續推行，它們的成效將於日後的貧窮情況分析全面反映，政府將會繼續監察這些項目的成效。
《2017年香港貧窮情況報告》，以及在記者會上簡介的「2017年貧窮情況分析」投影片已上載至扶貧委員會的專屬網站（www.povertyrelief.gov.hk）。
The Chief Secretary for Administration and Chairperson of the Commission on Poverty (CoP), Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, held a press conference this afternoon (November 19) to announce the analysis of the poverty situation in Hong Kong in 2017. Joining him were the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong; the Deputy Commissioner for Census and Statistics, Ms Marion Chan; and the Principal Economist from the Office of Government Economist, Ms Reddy Ng.
This is the sixth annual update of the poverty situation analysis by the CoP since the publication of the first official poverty line by CoP in 2013.
Mr Cheung said, "In 2017, the poverty rate before policy intervention was 20.1 per cent. After recurrent cash policy intervention, the poverty rate maintained at 14.7 per cent, the same level as that of 2016. This demonstrates Hong Kong's overall poverty situation remained largely stable and the increased effectiveness of the Government’s poverty alleviation work."
As for poor population, the poor population before and after policy intervention both recorded a slight increase (to 1 376 600 persons and 1 008 800 persons respectively), similar increases were seen in recent years, partly affected by structural changes in demographics and household size. With a broad-based tightening of the labour market and a notable expansion of the economy, overall wages recorded an year-on-year increase of 3.8 per cent. Alongside the increase in wages, there was a general increase of the poverty line thresholds by household size. For example, the poverty line threshold for 4-person households increased to $19,900, representing a 7.6 per cent increase from 2016.
Other than recurrent cash measures, the Government has been rendering a lot of resources to provide grassroots with various in-kind benefits, in particular public rental housing (PRH). Taking into account the in-kind benefits (mainly comprising PRH), an additional 288 000 persons were lifted out of poverty, and the post-intervention poverty rate was further reduced to 10.5 per cent. This indicates the important role of PRH in poverty alleviation work. The effectiveness of PRH in reducing grassroots' housing expenditure and thereby improving their livelihood is beyond doubt. Non-recurrent cash measures further reduced the post-intervention poverty rate to 13.9 per cent.
Mr Cheung pointed out that the poverty statistics reflected the outcome of various factors at play, including the implementation of the Government's poverty alleviation initiatives, the number of beneficiaries involved, the economic situation, the change in overall employment income, and demographic changes, some of which were beyond the Government’s control. In addition, the poverty alleviation effectiveness of some non-means tested relief measures, such as the Elderly Health Care Voucher, the Government Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities were not captured by the poverty line analytical framework. The slight increase in the overall poor population in 2017 did not imply a reduction of resources nor the effectiveness of the Government's poverty alleviation work. In fact, the Government's recurrent expenditure on social welfare has been on a rise. In 2018/19, that expenditure was estimated to reach $79.8 billion, representing a substantial growth of 86 per cent compared to that on 2012/13. This demonstrates the Government’s steadfast commitment in poverty alleviation.
On the effectiveness of policy intervention, Government recurrent cash measures continued to provide effective support to poor households in 2017, lifting 367 900 persons out of poverty, and the poverty rate was reduced by 5.4 percentage points, one percentage point more than five years earlier. Among various measures, the means-tested Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) and the Old Age Living Allowance (OALA) were most impactful on poverty alleviation, respectively reducing the overall poverty rate by 2.5 percentage points and 2.0 percentage points.
It is worth mentioning that, with the implementation of the enhanced OALA since May 2017, the poverty situation statistics in 2017 only reflected its impact on poverty alleviation for eight months, its full year effect will be reflected in the poverty situation statistics in 2018. In 2017, OALA lifted 91 200 senior citizens out of poverty, reducing the elderly poverty rate by 8.2 percentage points. OALA was the most effective measure in alleviating elderly poverty amongst various recurrent cash policies. In addition, the improved Low-income Working Family Allowance (LIFA), renamed as the Working Family Allowance (WFA), has been implemented since April 2018. As the claim period of WFA covers the past six months, its effect (from one to three months) was partially reflected in the poverty statistics analysis in 2017. It drove down the child poverty rate by 1.1 percentage points, higher than that achieved in 2016. Its effectiveness was also comparable to that of the poverty alleviation effectiveness of education benefits. This reflects that the scheme was helpful to children in poor working households, and thereby alleviating inter-generational poverty.
Looking ahead, in view of the rapid structural population ageing, the continued upward adjustment of the poverty line thresholds alongside wages increase as well as the fact that the poverty line only takes into account income but not assets, there would be not much room for significant improvement in the poverty figures in future. However, various measures on poverty alleviation and support for the elderly, including OALA, WFA, and the Life Annuity Scheme launched by the HKMC Annuity Limited have been rolled out and their effectiveness will be reflected in future poverty situation analyses. The Government will continue to monitor the effectiveness of these measures.
The "Hong Kong Poverty Situation Report 2017" and the presentation slides on the analysis of the poverty situation in 2017 have been uploaded to the CoP’s dedicated website (www.povertyrelief.gov.hk).
Ends/Monday, November 19, 2018
Issued at HKT 17:31
Source : Link
