Poverty could turn out to be a time-bomb for Hong Kong unless the Government takes drastic measures to tackle the problem, researchers have warned.
The problem has been aggravated in recent years due to economic stagnation, according to the results of the research entitled The Different Faces of Poverty in Hong Kong.
Dr Stephen Sze Man-hung, Associate Professor of the School of General Education at Lingnan College, said: 'If the Government does not take any initiatives to improve the situation, it could turn out to be a time-bomb for Hong Kong.' Figures show that the number of people receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance in August 1995 was 119,000, while, this August, it was about 179,000.
The research focused on a range of social poverty, such as families on welfare, single parents, new immigrant families, retired manual labourers and the aged.
Extremely bad housing conditions were faced by all the groups studied.
Parents of the impoverished families generally held little hope of overcoming their plight and this was passed on to their children.
Lack of professional training or skills was one main reason given for the aged falling into the poverty trap after retiring or losing their ability to work.