Poverty, from Hong Kong in the East to Hong Kong of the West

Hong Kong Poverty Line Shows Wealth Gap With One in Five Poor - Bloomberg: "Hong Kong, a city with a surging number of millionaires and home to some of Asia’s richest people, finds a fifth of its population living in poverty.

About 1.3 million people, or 19.6 percent of the population, were below the poverty line last year, according to a report commissioned by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and released on Sept. 28. The benchmark, determined for the first time, was set at half of the city’s median household income, excluding impact of tax and welfare transfer, the report said.

Growing inequality between the rich and the poor poses a major challenge to Leung, who came into office in July last year pledging to narrow the city’s record wealth gap. Tens of thousands of people protested on July 1, the anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China, demanding the government address inequality which has been exacerbated by the doubling of home prices since early 2009."

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