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Based on three surveys carried out for studying living conditions of youth, women and elderly living in six remote areas (Tuen Mun, Yuen Long, Tin Shui Wai, Sheung Shui, Fan Ling and Tai Po) in the New Territories of Hong Kong, this paper reports the poverty and social exclusion of these three groups of people. The quality of life of youth, women and elderly is adversely affected by limited job opportunities, high cost of travel for employment, and poor neighbourhoods in the community. However, perceptions of reasons for their problems are different for the three groups, due to differences in bonding and bridging social capital they have, as well as the differences in perceptions on social exclusion and discrimination directed upon them.

This paper examines the changes in the quality of life of poor households in Hong Kong in the late 1990s by analyzing their levels of expenditure, income security and poverty before and after 1997. Though there have been significant increases in the levels of expenditure among CSSA recipients, the expenditure among these poorest households in Hong Kong is still below that of non-CSSA recipients. Increasing poverty in Hong Kong is the result of increasing housing costs borne by these low expenditure households, who have to squeeze their expenditure on food and other items in order to meet the rising cost of housing. De-industrialisation and mass unemployment have given capital and the state unchecked authority to restructure the economy and to deregulate the labour market. Many low-income households have been hit hard as they faced redundancy, unemployment and wage-cuts after the 1997 Asian financial crisis. What jobs have been created are mostly part-time, temporary and contract jobs, and there has thus been an erosion in both job and income security. The quality of life of poor households is devastating not only in the sense that their living standards are low, but also that they are socially excluded from the mainstream of society.

This study aims to investigate the values of the founders of social business through a case analysis of five social businesses in Hong Kong. The study probes the dynamics of the formation and implementation of values of the founders. Value conflicts or dissonance are unavoidable challenges for social business due to their ethical nature. Value conflicts or dissonance and how they are handled are examined. This study has found that the founders hold values of universal types including social justice, equality, autonomy, empowerment as well as local Chinese values. The issues of founders and their values have received less attention in Hong Kong and elsewhere. This study attempts to fill this gap by shedding light on this unexplored area, which can help provide a fuller picture of the nature of social business in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there is a growing body of literature on the lived experiences of people in poverty, their interaction with the welfare delivery system at different levels is still under‐theorised. This article presents a multi‐level institutional framework to qualitatively study the low‐income families' experiences in claiming in‐work benefits (IWBs). Considering the Low‐income Working Family Allowance (LIFA) in Hong Kong as an extreme case of IWB's residualism and productivism, the findings suggest that LIFA claimants faced cycles of counter‐productive re‐assessment in their everyday frontline practices, and underwent organisational barriers in workplaces and families in collecting the proofs required by the means‐testing and work‐testing procedures. These experiences were linked to Hong Kong's macro‐systemic contexts that prioritised long working hours and strict targeting of low‐wage breadwinners. This study contributes to the literature by linking social policy implementation and welfare delivery to claiming experiences, and empirically reveals the complexities of IWBs using means‐tests and work‐tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There are growing concerns about the homeless and mental health issues globally. This study aims to examine the mental health situation of homelessness and the determinants of anxiety and depression of them in Hong Kong. Method: The data from the largest territory-wide study of the homeless population in 2021 was analyzed. Descriptive statistics and logistic regressions were used to investigate the association between mental health and socioeconomic variables, including demographic background, economic indicators, COVID-19 worries, government measures, and respect by others. The symptoms of depression and anxiety were assessed using Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) and General Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Results: The results showed that being female, food insecurity, and chronic diseases were the risk factors for anxiety and depression. A high level of respect by others was the protective factor for depression (adjusted OR 0.37, 95% CI [0.23, 0.61]) and anxiety (adjusted OR 0.40, 95% CI [0.24, 0.68]), compared to a low level of respect in the multivariate model. Conclusions: Providing medical outreach services, additional resources for social services, implementation of homeless-friendly policies, and a progressive supply of public and transitional housing would help enhance the well-being of the homeless population [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hong Kong is a typical global city with growing levels of substandard housing and a reduction in basic living quality. The government implemented a policy of transitional social housing (TSH) in 2018 to enhance the livelihood of low-income families. Nam Cheong 220 (NC220) is the first structural steel TSH project in Hong Kong. This study aims to evaluate the social impact and effectiveness of the project, and quantitative data were collected from individuals in three stages between 2020 and 2022. The first stage (T0) involved interviewing 106 successful applicants of NC220, followed by 91 participants in the second stage (T1) and 88 in the third stage (T2). Longitudinal analysis was implemented to scrutinize the changes observed over time, namely that the living area per capita substantially increased and housing expenses per capita decreased significantly due to residents' relocation to NC220. Housing conditions and community problems also showed significant improvement. Living satisfaction, neighbour and family relationships also demonstrated positive changes. The most difficult issue for residents was finding suitable housing after staying at NC220. The findings reveal that the first TSH in Hong Kong as an intervention significantly improved the housing circumstances of residents. The social dimensions of housing for enhancing residents' well-being is worth additional attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hong Kong has a relatively low incidence rate of COVID-19 across the globe. Nevertheless, ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, especially South Asians (SAs) and Southeast Asians (SEAs), face numerous physical, mental, social, economic, cultural and religious challenges during the pandemic. This study explores the experiences of SA and SEA women in a predominantly Chinese metropolitan city. Methods: Ten SA and SEA women were recruited and face-to-face interviews were conducted. Questions about participants' daily life experience, physical and mental health conditions, economic situation and social interaction amid COVID-19 pandemic were asked to assess the impact of COVID-19. Results: SAs and SEAs have a distinctive family culture, and women experienced significant physical and mental impact of COVID-19 due to their unique gender role in the family. In addition to taking care of their family in Hong Kong, SA and SEA women also had to mentally and financially support family members residing in their home countries. Access to COVID-related information was restricted due to language barrier. Public health measures including social distancing imposed extra burden on ethnic minorities with limited social and religious support. Conclusions: Even when COVID-19 incidence rate is relatively low in Hong Kong, the pandemic made life even more challenging for SAs and SEAs, which is a community already struggling with language barriers, financial woes, and discrimination. This in turn could have led to greater health inequalities. Government and civil organizations should take the social determinants of health inequalities into account when implementing COVID-19-related public health policies and strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreaks have been relatively well controlled in Hong Kong, containment remains challenging among socioeconomically disadvantaged persons. They are at higher risk for widespread COVID-19 transmission through sizable clustering, probably because of exposure to social settings in which existing mitigation policies had differential socioeconomic effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to enrich the comprehension of the effect of living density on anxiety and stress among adults in a global city. A random sample of 1,978 Hong Kong adults was interviewed in a cross‐sectional population study in 2014–2015. Descriptive statistics and logistic regressions were used to investigate the association between housing variables and mental health indicators, namely, anxiety and stress. Logistic regression analysis results have shown that by controlling the confounding effect of demographic variables, income poverty, housing ownership and housing cost, the living density was significantly associated with anxiety and stress of residents. Compared with those living in high density of <7 m2, living in medium density of ≥7 and <13 m2 was significantly associated with lower risk of anxiety (adjusted OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.30–0.88), and the risk was less for those living in low density of ≥13 m2 (adjusted OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.23–0.72). Meanwhile, living in low density of ≥13 m2 was significantly associated with a lower risk of stress (adjusted OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.20–0.97). These results highlighted the significant impact of living density on personal anxiety and stress. Moreover, female, younger adults or those living in income poverty were also at risk of anxiety and stress. In conclusion, our findings implied that improving housing policies, such as building public housing with adequate living areas and market regulation of living density of private housing, would help enhance the mental well‐being of residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hong Kong is a typical example of a world city that faces escalating poverty and housing problems. Problems related to housing are crucial in determining deprivation. By means of hierarchical linear regression on a representative survey of Hong Kong residents in 2014, this study examines the impacts of household income and housing factors on the deprivation of residents in Hong Kong. The study indicates that income level has a crucial effect on the deprivation level of households; whereas housing cost per capita, living area per capita, and living quarter problems significantly influence deprivation. A small interacting effect exists between household income and housing factors, which do not influence the independent effects of living area per capita and living quarter problems on deprivation. For the public rental housing residents, only the effect of living quarter problem on deprivation is significant, whereas for private rental housing residents, living area per capita and living quarter problem have a significant effect. Among all the models, housing expense per capita is a significant factor only in model for overcrowded households. The study recommends that improving the maintenance and renovation schemes for public and private housing with poor living environment is a good strategy to improve housing conditions and deprivation. The study suggests that anti‐poverty policies must consider strategies and measures that can improve the housing factors, including housing expenses, living density and living quarter maintenance problems, especially for those residents with high living density, such as those living in bed spaces, cubicles, and subdivided flats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A territory‐wide two‐stage stratified random sample of 2,282 community‐dwelling Hong Kong adults were surveyed between 2014 and 2015 to investigate the association between poverty and regular source of primary care utilization. Poverty was operationalized by income‐poverty and deprivation. About 94% of our sample reported having regular source of primary care (Western and/or Chinese medical practitioner) and about 69% among them were in private sector. Multivariable logistic regression showed that people who were income‐poor and deprived were less likely to have regular source of primary care (income‐poor: OR = 0.523, p =.027; deprived: OR = 0.488, p =.007) and visit private primary care doctors (income‐poor: OR = 0.445, deprived: OR = 0.222, both p <.0001). Those who had chronic diseases were more likely to have regular source of primary care (multimorbid: OR = 10.709, p <.0001), but less likely to access care in the private sector (one chronic disease: OR = 0.690, p =.019; multimorbid: OR = 0.374, p <.0001) than those without. Further, being older and less skilled were significantly associated with less likelihood of visiting a private doctor. Path analysis showed that the number of chronic diseases had significant indirect effect on having regular source of primary care with being income‐poor and deprived as the mediators (β = −.0183, p =.0016). Therefore, despite a public health‐care system that aims to deny no one from adequate health care for lack of means, regular source of primary care in Hong Kong is found to be pro‐rich. Future policies should tackle the problem of health‐care inequalities to meet the needs of the underprivileged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Individual-level deprivation takes into account the non-monetary aspects of poverty that neither income poverty nor socio-economic factors could fully capture; however, it has rarely been considered in existing studies on social inequality in obesity. Therefore, we examined the associations of deprivation, beyond income poverty, with both general and abdominal obesity. Methods A territory-wide two-stage stratified random sample of 2282 community-dwelling Hong Kong adults was surveyed via face-to-face household interviews between 2014 and 2015. Deprivation was assessed by a Deprivation Index specific to the Hong Kong population. General obesity was defined as body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m2, while abdominal obesity was defined as waist circumference (WC) ≥ 90 cm/80 cm for male/female. Multivariable binary logistic regressions were performed. Results Deprivation was independently associated with abdominal obesity (odds ratios (OR) = 1.68; 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.27–2.22); however, no significant association was found with general obesity (OR=1.03; CI: 0.77–1.38). After additional adjustment for BMI, deprivation remained strongly associated with abdominal obesity (OR=2.00; CI: 1.41–2.83); and after further adjustment for WC, deprivation had a marginal inverse association with general obesity (OR=0.72; CI: 0.51–1.01). Conclusions Deprivation is an important risk factor of abdominal obesity and plays a critical role in capturing the preferential abdominal fat deposition beyond income poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Hong Kong is one of the richest cities in the world and has some of the best health outcomes such as long life expectancy, little is known about the people who are unable to access healthcare due to lack of financial means. Cross-sectional data from a sample of 2,233 participants aged 18 or above was collected from the first wave of the “Trends and Implications of Poverty and Social Disadvantages in Hong Kong” survey. Socio-demographic factors, lifestyle factors, and physical and mental health conditions associated with people who were unable to seek medical services due to lack of financial means in the past year were examined using forward stepwise logistic regression analyses. Of the 2,233 participants surveyed, 8.4% did not seek medical care due to lack of financial means during the past year. They were more likely to be income-poor. With respect to physical and mental health, despite having less likelihood to have multimorbidity, they tended to have higher levels of both anxiety and stress, poorer physical and mental health-related quality of life, and suffer from more severe disability and pain symptoms affecting their daily activities, when compared to the rest of the Hong Kong population. People who were denied of medical care due to financial barriers are generally sicker than people in the general Hong Kong population, implying that those with greater healthcare needs may have financial difficulties in receiving timely and appropriate medical care. Our findings suggest that inequity in healthcare utilization remains a critical issue in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there is a body of literature on the explanation of homelessness in Western contexts, rough sleeping is understudied in non-Western societies. Based on a multi-dimensional precarity framework, this quantitative study employed data from the largest study of the homeless population in Hong Kong in 2021, comparing the rough and non-rough sleepers. Descriptive statistics and logistic regressions were used to investigate the association between rough sleeping, economic, housing, and health precarity. The results showed that lack of employment, food insecurity, and the incidence of chronic diseases were less risky for sleeping rough, compared with non-rough sleeping. Moreover, the analysis suggests that unemployment, mental health issues, repeated homelessness, and the lack of relationships with social work professionals appear to be the risk factors. This paper makes three significant contributions. First, it conceptually expands the conceptualization of rough sleeping and homelessness in relation to varying dimensions of precarity, formulating a framework connecting structural forces and individual experiences. Second, it extends the empirical findings of rough sleeping to a non-Western context. Third, it informs a multi-faceted intervention approach to rough sleeping by addressing the multi-dimensional precarity. • Middle-old age, lower educational level, employment insecurity, unstable mental health and repeated homeless were risk factors for rough sleeping. • Formal community support, compared with family relations, was a stronger protective factor in preventing rough sleeping. • Experiencing two aspects of food insecurity, perceived and objective food inadequacy, tend to have lower risk of rough sleeping. • People with physical health issues and chronic illness had lower risk to be homeless in HK's cultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The statutory minimum wage ( SMW) law was enforced in Hong Kong on 1 May 2011. To examine its impact, this longitudinal study measured the quality of life, job and pay satisfaction, monthly income, hourly rate and working hours of vulnerable groups ( n = 253) before and after the legislation. The findings confirmed that the enforcement of the SMW induced a positive impact as intended. The introduction of the SMW induced a positive wage and employment effect on the vulnerable groups in Hong Kong without harming their employment rate. Job and pay satisfaction, as well as most domains of the quality of life (i.e., physical and psychological health, and environment), increased significantly. In general, the positive impact of the SMW was more prominent for employees who previously worked less than 18 hours a week and who had hourly rates less than 28 HKD. The implications of the findings are discussed in the social context of Hong Kong. Key Practitioner Message: ● Enforcing minimum wage induced a positive impact on quality of life, job and pay satisfaction, and a monthly income of vulnerable groups. ● The social relations (quality of life) decreased after implementing minimum wage for workers working longer than 18 hours a week. ● Longer working hours is a key factor for the increase of a monthly income among the vulnerable groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Racial discrimination towards minority ethnic (ME) groups in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is argued to be endemic. This paper considers research studies focusing on this issue as extended to the Pakistani community, which appear to constitute in part a general xenophobia towards certain ME groups. In addition, the authors contribute findings from an ethnographic study of low-income Pakistani families in Hong Kong, offering narrated accounts from participants regarding the impact of racial discrimination on their lives, metaphorically signified in the idiomatic term Ah Cha to denote people of North Indian heritage. These data are supplemented by additional interview data from Hong Kong social workers. An analysis of the impact of racism upon Pakistani individuals and families is offered in relation to micro, meso and macro-level forms of discrimination. These in turn relate to interpersonal relationships, perceived community attitudes, social work responses, and relevant social policy and legislation. The discussion of the implications of racial discrimination in HKSAR, with a specific focus on its Pakistani community, is underpinned by theorisation of multiple oppressions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Simple Summary: Bedbugs (Cimex spp.) are a nuisance pest of significant public health importance that is on the rise globally, especially in crowded cities such as Hong Kong. Bedbug infestations disproportionately affect underprivileged communities living in crowded and dilapidated housing. This study uses an online survey to investigate the health impacts of bedbug infestations among bedbug victims. This study found that most bedbug victims experienced ≥five bites in the past month, usually on the arms and legs. The most common reaction to bites were itchiness, redness, and swelling of the skin, and difficulties sleeping or restlessness. Bites usually occurred during sleep, impacting the bedbug victim's mental and emotional health, and sleeping quality most severely. The adverse health outcomes of bedbug infestations were associated with the lower self-rated health and average hours of sleep per day of bedbug victims. This study brings attention to the neglected issue of bedbug infestations by providing evidence on the scope of its health impacts, informing public health interventions including public education and extermination programmes, and supportive laws and policies for adequate housing and hygiene. The successful control of bedbugs in an international city such as Hong Kong can inform the control of the global bedbug resurgence. Bedbugs (Cimex spp.) are a nuisance public-health pest that is on the rise globally, particularly in crowded cities such as Hong Kong. To investigate the health impacts of bedbug infestations among bedbug victims, online surveys were distributed in Hong Kong between June 2019 to July 2020. Data on sociodemographics, self-rated health, average hours of sleep per day, and details of bedbug infestation were collected. Bivariate and multivariable analysis were performed using logistic regression. The survey identified 422 bedbug victims; among them, 223 (52.9%) experienced ≥five bites in the past month; most bites occurred on the arms (n = 202, 47.8%) and legs (n = 215, 51%), and the most common reaction to bites were itchiness (n = 322, 76.3%), redness, and swelling of the skin (n = 246, 58.1%), and difficulties sleeping or restlessness (n = 125, 29.6%). Bites usually occurred during sleep (n = 230, 54.5%). For impact on daily life in the past month, most bedbug victims reported moderate to severe impact on mental and emotional health (n = 223, 52.8%) and sleeping quality (n = 239, 56.6%). Lower self-rated health (aOR < 1) was independently associated with impact on physical appearance (p = 0.008), spending money on medication or doctor consultation (p = 0.04), number of bites in the past month (p = 0.023), and irregular time of bites (p = 0.003). Lower average hours of sleep per day (aOR < 1) was independently associated with impact on mental and emotional health (p = 0.016). This study brings attention to the neglected issue of bedbug infestation by considering bedbugs as an infectious agent instead of a vector and providing empirical evidence describing its health impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]