Key facts
- Hong Kong's welfare minister Chris Sun Yuk-Han defended the government's decision.
- The government will discontinue using the poverty line as the sole indicator for aid allocation.
- Chris Sun described the poverty line as a limited statistical concept.
- The government is expanding its focus to support carers.
- Aid allocation will shift away from a singular reliance on poverty metrics.
Hong Kong's welfare minister, Chris Sun Yuk-Han, has defended the administration's move to discontinue the use of the poverty line as the sole indicator for allocating welfare. Sun stated that the poverty line is a limited statistical concept that does not fully capture the complexities of poverty. He announced that the government is expanding its focus to provide more support for carers. This shift indicates a move away from relying solely on poverty statistics to determine aid eligibility and distribution. The government aims to offer more targeted assistance by broadening its support mechanisms beyond a single numerical threshold.